Remco Evenepoel's bike: What is the Belgian champion racing in 2024?
The Belgian champion's custom Hot Rod inspired Tarmac SL8, plus all his notable bikes from seasons past
Remco Evenepoel sits among a select few riders that have defied specialisation from a young age. Like other rides such as Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, and Tadej Pogaçar, Evenepoel has stormed to victory in races as diverse as the world time trial championship, the Vuelta a España, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and the world road race championship.
In 2023 he was the world champion, and rightly had a white bike to commemorate this. This year he is 'only' Belgian champion, but this means yet another custom bike to add to the litany of custom bikes bestowed on the Belgian wonderkid.
This season he's aboard a Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8, with a colour scheme more reminiscent of a classic hot rod than the belgian flag, but the colour scheme is still on point.
What is Remco Evenepoel's bike?
Soudal-Quickstep is one of several teams sponsored by Specialized, and as it only produces the new Tarmac SL8 'all rounder', rather than having separate aero and lightweight bikes (this narrative seems to forget the Aethos, but given it's too light to race under the current UCI rules, we'll roll with it), Remco will be riding one of these along with the rest of the squad.
As the current Belgian champion, however, he is not only afforded the privilege of donning his national flag in the form of a jersey but he also has a special custom Tarmac with a complimentary paint job, which as mentioned above, pays homage (probably unintentionally) to vintage hot rods in the process.
While out touring the WorldTour winter training camps, we were fortunate enough to convince the Soudal-Quickstep mechanics to let us borrow the very bike he'll use to kick off his 2024 season for enough time to take these photos.
He's a small rider at 171cm, and uses a 52cm frameset. He technically is between two sizes, but, as nearly all pros would, he's sized down and opted for a longer stem. While we weren't allowed to weigh this model, given the small size of the frame we don't doubt that the mechanics will have been able to get it more or less bang on the UCI 6.8kg weight limit.
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Frame | Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 - 52cm. |
Groupset | Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 9250 12-speed |
Brakes | Shimano Dura-Ace 9270 hydraulic disc |
Wheelset | Roval Alpinist CLX II (Roval Rapide CLX II on flatter days) |
Tyres | Specialized S-Works Turbo Cotton 26mm w/ latex inner tubes |
Handlebar | Roval Rapide 38cm |
Chainset | Shimano Dura ace FC-9200P - 54/40T - 165mm |
Power meter | Shimano Dura ace FC-9200P |
Pedals | Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 |
Saddle | Specialized S-Works mirror power |
Bottle cages | Tacx Ciro |
Bottles | Elite Crono |
Bar tape | Supacaz super sticky kush |
Computer | Garmin |
While the Tarmac is a new bike, the setup from last season is relatively similar. This is his second bike, denoted by a number 2 on the rear of the seat post, and while the lower profile Roval Aplinist CLX II wheels are more of a climbing wheel, we do see him switching between these and the deeper Rapide CLX II depending on the terrain.
Up front his cockpit is new. Gone is the Pro Vibe aero bar and stem as separate components, replaced by the new Roval Rapide cockpit. Gone, too, is the inwardly pointed brake levers, thanks to the UCI ban on tilted shifters. His position also seems to be unchanged; the inline seatpost is still there for 2024, bechromed though it is here, and his stem length and bar width seem to be his usual 38cm x 110 or 120mm.
We spoke to Soudal Quick-Step about their bike setup for the season and learned that Evenepoel is experimenting with shorter cranks. He's now running 165mm cranks on his TT bike, and trying it on his road bike too.
While we did see Evenepoel using tubeless in 2023, it seems that he and the rest of the team are primarily using Specialized Turbo Cotton tyres and latex inner tubes. It's faster, so says the team, though we wouldn't be surprised to see them opt for tubeless if there was a gravel stage or an increased risk of punctures.
His gearing is an appropriately pro 54/40t, though this again may change depending on the terrain. The chainset is part of a full Shimano Dura-Ace groupset, including the power meter, though we have seen his team mates using 4iiii power units too. This may be what he will use for his 'Number 1' race bike going forward, keeping the Dura-Ace power model for his spare bike.
As for his contact points, he uses Dura-Ace pedals with their oversized bearings that somewhat resemble power pedals, a Specialized S-Works Power with Mirror saddle, and Supacaz bar tape, finished with cotton finishing tape.
Remco Evenepoel's 2023 World Champion's Specialized Tarmac SL7
Having won the 2022 World Championship road race in Wollongong, Australia, Evenepoel was, as is customary, treated by his bike sponsor to a mostly white bike to ride for his season in the rainbow bands. Given the release of the new Specialized Tarmac SL8 at the Glasgow super-worlds, it was the final time we saw the Belgian superstar on the outgoing model.
Given rule changes and new equipment from Specialized, it was also the last time we saw him with the aggressively turned in hoods we got used to seeing so many riders opt for before they were banned by the UCI, and the last time we saw him opt for a separate bar and step combo.
Remco Evenepoel's 2022 World Championship winning bike
In order to earn oneself a rainbow bike one must first win the world championship road race. Remco Evenepoel won the hilly course in Wollongong, Australia, with a solo attack 25km from the line. He was riding a bike very much the same as his current white steed, but in the case of the world championship race, he was running the older model of the tyres.
While the bike and componentry were essentially the same, the all-black paint job will have been lighter as it is essentially raw carbon rather than heavy white paint. Interestingly on his worlds-winning bike, we did spot that the Di2 cable had been secured to the derailleur hanger by what looks like heat shrink or black tape, to avoid any potential mishaps in such an important race. While we didn't spot this on his bike at the training camp it may be something we see during races.
Remco Evenepoel's 2022 Vuelta a España winning bike
Some riders can win one-day races regularly. Some riders can win grand tours and stage races. The crossover at the centre of the Venn Diagram that encompasses both races contains an alarmingly small number of riders. One of them though is Remco Evenepoel, who, before winning the world championships in Australia, brought the red jersey of the Vuelta a España back to Belgium for the first time in many many years.
His bike, as per his worlds-winning, and world champions bikes above, was mostly stock, save for a commemorative red paint job and a colour-matched saddle and bar tape. The Roval Rapide, rather than Alpinist, wheelset features red decals applied over the white.
Remco Evenepoel's time trial bike
While Remco spends the majority of his time on his S-Works Tarmac SL7 through the season, he occasionally has to take part in time trials. As part of his 2022 Vuelta win, he also took stage 10 aboard his Specialized Shiv TT bike by a margin of 48 seconds.
Below you can see the setup he usually opts for, though for the Vuelta he used an Aerocoach front wheel rather than the Roval model you can see here. It's a bike designed to battle against the clock, so everything is optimised for maximum efficiency, including custom-made bars moulded to his forearms
Remco Evenepoel's gravel bike
Gravel is the hottest genre in cycling at the moment, and more and more pro racers from the road scene are popping up at gravel races. While Remco Evenepoel doesn't routinely take part in the gravel scene at the moment, his presence at the 2021 Belgian Waffle Ride, a gravel race in California, aboard an S-Works Crux was noteworthy enough to warrant a gallery, despite the fact he only rode the short 'Wafer' route rather than the full 'Waffle'.
Given he's a Specialized and Shimano-sponsored athlete it's no surprise to see him aboard an S-Works Crux, equipped with Shimano GRX Di2 and Roval wheels. The tyres, Pathfinder 42mm models, were also Specialized. Given the lack of neutral service in gravel racing, it's much more common to see riders carrying repair equipment, like spare inner tubes, along with them for the race in case of any bad luck.
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Will joined the Cyclingnews team as a reviews writer in 2022, having previously written for Cyclist, BikeRadar and Advntr. There are very few types of cycling he's not dabbled in, and he has a particular affection for older bikes and long lasting components. Road riding was his first love, before graduating to racing CX in Yorkshire. He's been touring on a vintage tandem all the way through to fixed gear gravel riding and MTB too. When he's not out riding one of his many bikes he can usually be found in the garage tinkering with another of them, or getting obsessive about tyres. Also, as he doesn't use Zwift, he's our go-to guy for bad weather testing... bless him.
Rides: Custom Zetland Audax, Bowman Palace:R, Peugeot Grand Tourisme Tandem, Falcon Explorer Tracklocross, Fairlight Secan & Strael
- Stephen FarrandHead of News