A Closer Look at Remco Evenepoel's S-Works Tarmac SL9 Golden Edition for the Tour de France

The new Specialized Tarmac SL9 is making a spectacular debut at the 2026 Tour de France, and among all the versions seen in the peloton, one stands out in particular. Remco Evenepoel is competing in his first Grande Boucle with Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe on an exclusive S-Works Tarmac SL9 Golden Edition loaded with custom components and featuring a build that reveals some very interesting technical details.

Remco Evenepoel’s New Tarmac SL9, In Detail

Remco Evenepoel switched from Shimano to SRAM at the start of the year when he joined Red Bull, and in this Tour he’s debuting the new Tarmac SL9 with a highly customized build that takes advantage of his status as an Olympic champion.

The first thing that catches your eye is, inevitably, its design. The fork and the entire front section of the frame are covered in a gold finish reminiscent of the gold medal Evenepoel won in the road race at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

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But the gold isn’t limited to the frame. SRAM has also customized some of the bike’s components—such as the cassette, chain, crankset, and shift levers—and all of them feature gold accents that match the frame.

As we mentioned, Evenepoel is racing this year with the SRAM RED AXS groupset, and for the Tour he’s using 54- and 41-tooth chainrings paired with 165-mm cranks. The cassette he’s chosen is a 10-36, finished almost entirely in gold with the exception of the smallest sprocket. The chain, also gold, has been treated with hot wax.

The build also confirms Evenepoel’s preference for short cranks, an increasingly widespread trend in the professional peloton that the Belgian is continuing in his new chapter with SRAM.

The gold accents carry over to the SRAM shifter logos, the underside of the saddle, and some K-Edge components, such as the bike computer mount and the chain guard.

Evenepoel’s aerodynamic position has always been one of his hallmarks, and his new Tarmac SL9 retains the Roval Rapide integrated handlebars used on the previous generation, though Remco has reduced the width. The Belgian has switched from a 38-cm set to a 36-cm set.

The position of the shift levers is even more extreme. They are angled inward to leave a width of 28 cm—exactly the minimum currently allowed by UCI regulations.

The open handlebar design causes the width to increase gradually until it reaches 42 cm at the bottom.

This allows Evenepoel to adopt a very narrow riding position when riding on the shifters and provides him with a considerably wider base when using the lower part of the handlebars.

For his wheels, Evenepoel rides Roval Rapide CLX III wheels with a 51 mm rim depth on the front wheel and 48 mm on the rear. Specialized explained that the difference in rim depth between the two wheels is based on their aerodynamic testing. According to the brand, increasing the rim depth of the rear wheel does not provide a sufficient aerodynamic advantage but does increase weight.

Evenepoel is sticking with another favorite from last season: the 30-mm Specialized Cotton TLR tires. Wide tires have become increasingly common among Tour de France teams, although in this case the actual measurements are slightly smaller than advertised.

Once assembled and race-ready, Remco Evenepoel’s new bike weighs 7 kg on the scale, slightly less than the SL8 he rode during the previous Tour.

A more aerodynamic SL9, despite retaining a familiar design

Despite the weight reduction achieved by Eveneposl’s bike, the Tarmac SL9’s main innovations aren’t on the scale, but in its aerodynamics.

Specialized has modified the fork and the front end of the frame to improve airflow. The fork legs are now longer, and the distinctive head tube—known as the Speed Sniffer—is more seamlessly integrated into the frame. The fork has also been redesigned to direct airflow more cleanly.

Another small detail can be found between the seat tube and the rear wheel. Specialized calls this solution the Win Fin; it consists of a small extension designed to improve airflow when the bike is ridden without the second water bottle. The brand claims that this feature saves about 0.5 watts at 45 km/h.

The seatpost has also been redesigned and now features a narrower profile to reduce aerodynamic drag.

According to Specialized's data, the combination of all these changes makes the new Tarmac SL9 4 watts faster than the SL8.

Setup of Remco Evenepoel's S-Works Tarmac SL9 Golden Edition

• Frame: Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL9 FACT 12r
• Drivetrain: SRAM RED AXS
• Chainrings: 54/41 teeth
• Cranks: 165 mm
• Cassette: SRAM RED AXS 10-36 gold
• Cockpit: Roval Rapide 36 cm
• Wheels: Roval Rapide CLX III, 51 mm front, 48 mm rear
• Tires: Specialized Cotton TLR 30 mm
• Weight: 7 kg

Here's a look at the Tarmac SL9 ridden by the rest of the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe team

Although Evenepoel’s Golden Edition is drawing much of the attention, the rest of the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe riders are also competing in the Tour de France on the new Specialized Tarmac SL9.

The team uses a livery called “Motion + Emotion” that retains some of the German team’s signature visual elements.

The frame combines a dark blue front section with a white rear section inspired by the “sticker slap” design used by Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe in recent seasons.

The team’s overall setup features the S-Works Tarmac SL9 frame made of FACT 12r carbon with a SRAM RED AXS drivetrain and a Quarq power meter, Roval Rapide CLX III wheels, a Specialized S-Works Power Mirror EVO saddle, Specialized tires, Supacaz handlebar tape, Tacx bottle cages, and a Garmin Edge 1050 bike computer.

Specialized has also released a frame kit featuring the same design used by the team, priced at 5,999 euros.