Specialized has released its team-issue 2022 Tarmac SL7 bikes during training camps held in Spain, including exclusive colourways for World Champ Julian Alaphilippe and crowd favourite Peter Sagan.
Specialized heads into the 2022 World Tour season as bike and equipment sponsor for four teams. On the men's circuit Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, BORA-hansgrohe and TotalEngeries will all ride the US brand’s race machines as well as its helmets, shoes, and tyres.
SD Worx will also be showing off Specialized colours as the number one ranked Women’s WorldTeam. All of the teams will be using Roval wheels for the 2022 campaign.
Each of the teams attended training camps in December 2021, allowing Specialized to fit and adjust the riders to their new Tarmac SL7s with the help of Retul Fit experts. The Tarmac SL7 was first released in 2020, designed as a multi-purpose race machine that blends the best properties of both aero bikes and climbing bikes.
(Image credit: Specialized)
With regards to paint jobs, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl have opted for a blue metallic fade. This classy blend is inspired by the Belgian team’s kit colour, now made by Castelli for the 2022 season and beyond.
However as reigning World Champion, Alaphilippe gets a custom colourway, with rainbow bands adorning both the top tube and seat tube of the otherwise white frame.
When we first get to see this eye-catching bike in action isn’t immediately clear. Currently Alaphilippe is scheduled to start his 2022 season at Strade Bianche on the 5th of March, although last year he raced both the Tour de la Provence and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad ahead of the Tuscan classic.
(Image credit: Specialized)
The Frenchman isn’t the only Specialized rider to get his own colour scheme in 2022. Long time associate of the brand, Peter Sagan has switched teams, joining Pro Tour outfit TotalEnergies, bringing the US marque with him.
His Tarmac SL7 pays tribute to his Slovakian roots, with a stylish metallic blue frame offset with a bright red seat post. Sagan is hard to miss at the best of times. This striking paint job should ensure that continues to be the case in 2022, no matter his results. He’s due to begin the new season at Milan-Sanremo in March, a race where he’s placed in the top-10 each year since 2017.
(Image credit: Specialized)
His new teammates however will be aboard an SL7 sporting a red fade complemented by black components.
(Image credit: Specialized)
SD Worx’s new colourway also uses a fade paint scheme with the team’s jersey as its inspiration. The addition of pink to existing purple allows for an impressive blended finish that really accentuates the Tarmac’s tube profiles.
(Image credit: Specialized)
Finally, BORA-hansgrohe, who announced its new colourway ahead of the other teams, again uses its 2022 kit as its palette guide. The result is a largely black frame with the addition of a dark green on the bike’s seat tube and stays. It’s a stealthy looking number indeed.
(Image credit: Specialized)
Stay tuned for more team bikes as they get unveiled in the coming weeks.
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Luke Friend has worked as a writer, editor and copywriter for twenty five years. Across books, magazines and websites, he's covered a broad range of topics for a range of clients including Major League Baseball, the National Trust and the NHS. He has an MA in Professional Writing from Falmouth University and is a qualified bicycle mechanic. He has been a cycling enthusiast from an early age, partly due to watching the Tour de France on TV. He's a keen follower of bike racing to this day as well as a regular road and gravel rider.
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