Julian Alaphilippe's S-Works Tarmac SL7 at the Tour de France

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In 2019, when Julian Alaphilippe stormed into the Tour de France yellow jersey for his first time, he did so on stage 3. He duly followed that up in 2020, going a day earlier and earning yellow on stage 2. This year, he's gone yet another day earlier, winning the stage 1 opener into Landerneau with a stinging long-range acceleration. 

Ahead of the stage, the road world champion said that it would take a "violent effort" to take the win. And violent it certainly was; when his Deceuninck-QuickStep teammate Dries Devenyns swung off the front at 2.3km to go, Alaphilippe launched his attack. The subsequent four-minute effort saw him gain eight seconds over his rivals.

Alaphilippe and his Deceuninck-QuickStep teammates are racing aboard the S-Works Tarmac SL7, but a perk of his position as reigning world champion, the Frenchman's bike is resplendent in a rainbow-themed custom paint job. 

His win in 2020 marked the first victory in modern cycling history for clincher tyres. Despite the risk of being unrideable when flat, riders from both Specialized-sponsored teams were using the technology, which Roval claims "delivers the lowest riding resistance and supple road feel." Fast forward to today and the entire Deceuninck-QuickStep team have committed to the tyres for the full three-week race. 

The tyres have been paired with Roval's Rapide CLX wheels, which are the deeper, more aerodynamic of the two options available to the team. In contrast, Alaphilippe has foregone both of the aero handlebars available - the S-Works Aerofly II and the Roval Rapide - in favour of a lighter weight round bar from PRO. 

With his victory, Alaphilippe earned both the yellow and green jerseys, and his team mechanics swung into action, giving the race leader's bike a few colour-matching yellow touches. 

Julian Alaphilippe's custom-painted Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7: Specifications