Shane Archbold's Specialized Venge - Gallery

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Shane Archbold, aka the Flying Mullet, is arguably one of the WorldTour's finest lead-out men. He has already led his teammate and long-time friend Sam Bennett to numerous victories in this currently-curtailed 2020 season. 

Archbold's not just a carriage in a train, though. On February 16th, Archbold beat Jumbo Visma's George Bennett to take the New Zealand national championship title. A few days later he took to Twitter to express his gratitude to the team's kit sponsor Vermarc for his new custom national champion's kit. 

A week on from arguably the biggest win in Archbold's career, he was resplendent in the silver fern at the UAE Tour, where on stage 2, he led Sam Bennett to 2nd place.

The race was subsequently cut short in dramatic fashion due to an outbreak of coronavirus in the team hotel. Riders, staff and press were subsequently quarantined, with some teams being bound to their hotel rooms for the following two weeks. 

Archbold has clipped in just once since, at the GP Monseré, where he led teammate Fabio Jakobsen to victory. 

The more recent self-isolation and social distancing measures set out by countries worldwide have led to Archbold filling his time with indoor training and, according to Deceuninck-Quickstep's Instagram, jigsaw puzzles.

The latest issue of Procycling magazine, Cyclingnews' sister publication, has recently compiled a feature on the Archbold-Bennett friendship.

Get a Procycling subscription (opens in new tab).

Shane Archbold's Specialized S-Works Venge

Archbold's bike is a perfect stereotype of the 2020 WorldTour bikes. He is riding aboard Specialized's best aero road bike, the S-Works Venge, which is fitted with the range-topping Dura-Ace groupset from Shimano. Disc brakes reign supreme and Deceuninck-QuickStep are one of the many teams committing exclusively to the technology for 2020.

• Lotto Soudal to ride disc brakes only in 2020
• Movistar goes disc-only with SRAM, ending 37-year partnership with Campagnolo
• Bahrain McLaren to ride disc-only Merida road bikes in 2020

However, while numerous teams (QuickStep included) are trialling tubeless tyre technology in 2020, Archbold is sticking with the tried-and-tested and still-most-common tubular format, which is still considered by many riders to be the best road tyres for WorldTour racing.  

Click through the gallery above for a closer look at Shane Archbold's Specialized S-Works Venge

Shane Archbold's Specialized S-Works Venge full bike specifications

Frameset: Specialized S-Works Venge, 56cm

Front brake: Shimano Dura-Ace R9170 Hydraulic Disc caliper

Rear brake: Shimano Dura-Ace R9170 Hydraulic Disc caliper

Brake/shift levers:  Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9170 Hydraulic Disc Dual Control Lever

Front derailleur:  Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9150

Rear derailleur:  Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9150

Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace, 11-30T

Chain:  Shimano Dura-Ace

Crankset: Shimano Dura-Ace R9100-P w/ Dual-sided power, 53/39T

Bottom bracket: CeramicSpeed

Wheelset:  Roval CLX 50 Disc tubular

Tyres: S-Works Turbo tubular 26mm

Handlebars: S-Works Aerofly, 42cm

Handlebar tape: Supa-Caz Super Sticky Kush Classic

Stem: S-Works Venge stem, 140mm

Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace PD-R9100

Saddle: Specialized S-Works Toupe 

Seat post: Specialized Aero

Bottle cages: Tacx Deva

Computer: Wahoo ELEMNT Roam

Rider height: 1.82m

Seat height (from bottom bracket at centre): 756mm

Saddle nose to handlebars (at stem): 590mm

Weight: 7.39kg