How does a sprinter tune his bike for a shot at wearing the maillot jaune?
(Image credit: Will Jones)
The Tour de France, unless something truly astounding happens, will never be won by a sprinter. However, when the opening stages are relatively flat as they so often are, it can give the fast men a chance to at least pull on the yellow jersey for a day or more if they play their cards right.
One rider with his sights firmly set on grabbing that famous jersey is Tim Merlier of the Belgian Soudal-Quick Step squad. He's currently the European champion and one of this year's in-form sprinters.
At the team's official presentation up in Belgium in the days before the Tour begins in earnest, I sweet-talked a mechanic into holding the bike for me so we could see how he's set his Specialized Tarmac SL8 up for the opening stages.
It's got all the latest tech from Specialized, including sprint-specific wheels that are deeper at the front than the rear, larger-than-normal chainrings, and the fastest tyres the brand makes.
Much like with the gallery I recently brought you of Geraint Thomas' bike, Merlier and the rest of the Soudal team uses the same bike for all stages, modifying the wheels and chainrings to suit the stage profile, but ultimately keeping the same basic plan the whole time. If you want to see a different take on the Tarmac setup, then check out Remco Evenepoel's gold bike.
Specialized sponsored teams only race on the Tarmac, but in this setup it's very much geared to straight-line speed, rather than alpine weight-weenieism. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Merlier uses a larger 56/44t Shimano Dura-Ace chainset to propel him forwards. (Image credit: Will Jones)
His wheels are shod with Specialized's new Rapidair TLR tyres which I measured to be 30mm wide. They are devoid of any puncture protection strip, but allegedly have an aero optimised tread for a wattage gain. (Image credit: Will Jones)
He is using the new Roval Rapide Sprint wheels, the deepest set the Specialized in-house component brand makes. The tyres are set up tubeless. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Those aren't spoke nipples, just the metal ends of carbon spokes attached to a low profile hub. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Mechanics often number the wheelsets to keep track of sealant top-ups; spot the number 7. (Image credit: Will Jones)
The Tarmac can take tyres larger than 30mm, but the Rapidair TLR tyres only come in 26c or 28c. On these Roval rims, they measured closer to 30mm however. (Image credit: Will Jones)
172.5mm cranks for the Belgian. (Image credit: Will Jones)
All bikes at this level are carbon, so no surprises here. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Very neat cable management for his electronic rear derailleur from the mechanic. That's a little strip of butyl inner tube to stop the cable snagging in a crash. (Image credit: Will Jones)
A team branded K-Edge computer mount. The patch of Velcro inside helps keep the computer from rattling around. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Curiously Merlier doesn't use any additional satellite shifters. His bars are 39cm wide at the tops and 41cm in the drops. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Like with Remco's gold bike, the mechanics won't be mistaking this one for anyone else's, but Merlier gets a name sticker nonetheless. (Image credit: Will Jones)
A Specialized Phenom Comp with Mirror saddle isn't one we see much of nowadays, with most riders tending towards shorter-nosed saddles. (Image credit: Will Jones)
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Will joined the Cyclingnews team as a reviews writer in 2022, having previously written for Cyclist, BikeRadar and Advntr. He’s tried his hand at most cycling disciplines, from the standard mix of road, gravel, and mountain bike, to the more unusual like bike polo and tracklocross. He’s made his own bike frames, covered tech news from the biggest races on the planet, and published countless premium galleries thanks to his excellent photographic eye. Also, given he doesn’t ever ride indoors he’s become a real expert on foul-weather riding gear. His collection of bikes is a real smorgasbord, with everything from vintage-style steel tourers through to superlight flat bar hill climb machines.
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