Pro bike: Aleksandr Vlasov's Specialized Tarmac SL8 for the Vuelta a España

Bora-Hansgrohe, Soudal Quick-Step and TotalEnergies all using latest Specialized Tarmac at the Spanish Grand Tour

13:47, Thursday 14th September 2023

Aleksandr Vlasov's Specialized Tarmac SL8

BORA-hansgrohe
- Nationality Germany
- Founded 2017
- Team Principal Ralph Denk
- UCI Code BOH
- Bike Sponsor Specialized
Aleksandr Vlasov
- Team BORA-hansgrohe
- Nationality Russian Federation
- Age 28
- UCI Wins 15
- Height 1.86m
Vuelta a España
- Dates 26 Aug - 17 Sept
- Race Length 3,133 kms
- Race Category Elite Men
Specialized
Specialized is a bike manufacturer based in California, USA. The company produces bicycles and components for a wide variety of cycling disciplines. Specialized also sells a range of premium products under its S-works brand.

After multiple leaks and plenty of rumours, a new Specialized Tarmac SL8 finally broke cover at the beginning of August. It made its official debut at the World Championships and it’s now also made its Grand Tour bow at the Vuelta a España at the hands of Bora-Hansgrohe, TotalEnergies and Soudal Quick-Step.

During the race, we took a closer look at general classification star Aleksandr Vlasov’s (Bora-Hansgrohe) version of the bike.

Specialized’s most aerodynamic bike ever

The new Tarmac SL8 replaced the SL7, a bike with plenty of Vuelta a España pedigree having been used by defending champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) as he claimed his first ever Grand Tour victory last season - and the pair teamed up to win the road race at the World Championships too.

The SL8 has big shoes to fill then, but Specialized claims that it far surpasses the performance of its predecessor in multiple key areas, starting with aerodynamics. According to the American brand, it’s the most aerodynamic bike it’s ever produced, replacing the now defunct Venge.

The Venge used to be Specialized’s pure aero bike, but was discontinued in 2020 upon the release of the then new Tarmac SL7, a do-it-all superbike designed to be fast on any terrain. It’s a route many brands are now taking, favouring a one-bike-does-all solution over specialised aero and climbing offerings.

The Tarmac SL8 is the most aerodynamic bike Specialized has ever created

With its more aerodynamic design, the Tarmac SL8 is 16.6 seconds faster over 40km than the SL7, according to Specialized. Becoming more aerodynamic used to mean deeper tube profiles, but that’s not the case with the SL8, with some of its tubes slightly slimming down.

The most noticeable exception to that is the bulbous head tube, as can be seen on Vlasov’s bike, one of the key new aero features. It comes with a weight penalty of 25 additional grams, but that’s an outlier rather than the norm, with the frame only weighing 685kg in a size 56cm, over 100g lighter than the SL7.

Being able to make a bike more aerodynamic without sacrificing weight is one of the reasons why pure aero bikes are being phased out by certain brands.

Vlasov’s Tarmac SL8 components

Shimano's Dura-Ace groupset

As is common throughout the pro peloton, with the majority of teams using its groupsets, Vlasov’s bike has Shimano’s Dura-Ace groupset. For it, the 27-year-old has a 54/40t chainset paired with an 11-30t cassette. That used to be a wide range of gears, but many riders are now using wider cassettes, even for flat stages.

The 26mm Specialized Turbo Cotton tyres are also narrower than the 28mm that appears to be the most popular choice at this year’s race. These were joined by Roval Alpinist CLX wheels, in a 33mm depth, a shallow choice considering that we encountered Vlasov’s bike ahead of stage 4, a flat day that ended in a bunch sprint.

The bike is finished with the PRO Vibe Evo handlebar and a Specialized saddle.