Ben Healys reputation as one of the most exciting prospects in pro cycling was further enhanced by the tenacity, and power, of his performances over the last three weeks at the Tour de France. The Irishman, who will next be in action at the Olympic Games road race in Paris, said he is really, really []The post Ben Healy really proud of Tour de France ride, reveals illness during last week appeared first on Sticky Bottle.

Mathieu van der Poel spent the past three weeks a bit under the radar. Wearing the rainbow didn't grant the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider wings to win a stage himself. Even then, he played a key role in Jasper Philipsen's three triumphs, which was almost enough to defend the Green jersey from last year....

Remco Evenepoel of Soudal Quick-Step spent the last three weeks in France racing on a shiny chrome S-Works Tarmac SL8. But finishing first in the Young Rider classification of the Tour de France along the Mediterranean coast over the weekend, Specialized rolled out a new white bike for Remco, too. Take a closer look with us at Remcos different chrome, black, and white Tarmacs. Then, you get to pick which you like best!White Jersey Winner Remco Evenepoels S-Works Tarmac SL8(Photos/Cory Benson)Weve featured a lot of Specialized S-Works Tarmac pro bikes over the years. Like Remcos 2022 La Vuelta winning SL7 and then his World Champ edition SL7 a few months later.And now, Specializeds latest SL8 lays claim to being the lightest in the peloton at just 685g for the top-tier carbon frame. We all know that paint adds weight. But if you are already starting so light, theres probably of plenty of wiggle room within the UCIs 6.8kg minimum.It doesnt hurt that Specialized also say the SpeedSniffer headtube design makes the SL8 more aero than their previous Venge. And that it gets a 33% greater stiffness:weight and a claimed 6% boost of smoothness while in the saddle.Remco Evenepoel is the fastest Young Rider at the 2024 Tour de FranceWe spotted both black & chrome and all-black bikes for Evenepoel at this years Tour. Plus, Specialized shared photos of a white one later on.Besides white jerseys, the only thing white we really spotted on all of Remco Evenepoels bikes at the Tour was white bar tape.So wait, how does the Tour de Frances Young Rider Classification work? Evenepoel is clearly young at 24. But hes also no young up-and-coming newbie to the sport. He skipped racing as a U23 to go straight to the pro ranks, and has already won the 2022 World Championship on the road, 2023 TT Worlds, and the 2022 Vuelta a Espaa.But current Tour rules mean since he will still be under 26 on next January 1st, hes still considered a Young Rider this summer. And it was his first Tour de France this year. Overall Yellow Jersey winner Tadej Pogaar is currently 25, but will be 26 in a couple months. But dont lose sleep for Pogaar, hes won the White Jersey a record 4x.The #71 rider was most often seen racing on one of a couple of shiny chromed-out S-Works Tarmac SL8 bikes, though.Not just black or chrome, underneath his S-Works Power Mirror saddle you can see some copper chrome. It shows up at the bottom bracket and chainstays too, making for a very shiny and very reflective bike build.A new Roval cockpit for Remco EvenepoelPretty much every other type weve profile Evenepoels Tarmacs, theyve been fitted with a traditional 2-piece bar and stem setup from PRO. But now with the latest S-Works Tarmac SL8, Evenepoel has adopted the lightweight 1-piece carbon Roval cockpit.From our own testing, weve seen that the Roval Rapide cockpit comes in a broad 15 size range, that likely helped Evenepoel find the exact fit that he wanted. It also has pretty slick integration with the teams custom Wolfpack out-front GPS mounts made for them by K-Edge. And tidy cable integration that exists just under the stem, before tucking into the special upper headset bearing cap for easier adjustment by mechanics.One more shiny detail even Remcos hubs are polished silver. Actually, it looks like most of the Soudal Quick-Step team bikes were sporting Roval wheels with silver hubs. Fingers crossed that Specialized might make that more of a mainstream product spec.Project Black, is it light or is it a prototype?Not all of Remcos Tarmac SL8 bikes were chrome, though. We didnt really notice anything super secret on this bike. But Project Black is the name Specialized give to their prototype development projects, so do you spot anything we missed?There was at least one spare bike ready to go on the roof of the car with a lighter build. Of course, less paint on this Project Black spare bike may have saved a couple of grams. But also those ultralight lower-profile 33mm deep Roval Alpinist wheels with light tires & tubes certainly help.50th anniversary White Jersey S-Works Tarmac SL8 for Remco, too(Photo/Specialized)Lastly, after the Tour finished. Specialized sent us some photos of a bike they made for Evenepoel, both commemorating his Best Young Rider classification in his first-ever Tour de France, but also Specializeds own 50th anniversary.(Photo/Specialized)Were excited to share beautiful images of the S-Works Tarmac SL8: Best Young Rider celebration bike we made for Remco Evenepoel. On his debut at the Tour de France, he takes home the white jersey for best young rider, a podium spot, as well as his stunning stage win Stage 7 TT win. Most importantly, hes shown the world that hes got the talent to mix it up with Jonas and Tadej at the for Tour victory in the future We can think of no better way to celebrate Remcos incredible debut Tour as well as mark our 50th year. Remco is showing hes the future of road racing and were excited to continue innovating for Remco, and riders everywhere, to keep improving the ride!So which Remco 2024 Tour S-Works Tarmac SL8 bike do you prefer? Let us know in the comments.Specialized.comThe post Remco Evenepoel Goes from Chrome S-Works Tarmac SL8 to White to Match His Tour Jersey appeared first on Bikerumor.

As one of the few Visma | Lease a Bike riders who escaped the spring (severely) unharmed, Tiesj Benoot could only watch his teammates fight on their way to recover in time for the Tour de France. And after all the poor luck, the second place of Jonas Vingegaard feels like a small victory for the Dut...

You could say that Richard Carapaz has seen it all at this year's Tour de France. The Ecuadorian wore the yellow jersey for a day in the first week, then fell through the GC to comeback in the third week with a stage victory, King of the Mountains jersey and a Supercombativity prize on top of it.Car...

Arka -B&B Hotels didn't have a good record in their latest Grand tour appearances, however they were able to break the streak of 'no results' at the 2024 Tour de France. That is thanks to Kevin Vauquelin who managed to win the 'San Luca' stage two. For the rest of the race, the French team hasn't...

In the end, Visma | Lease a Bike didn't manage to pull off a miracle and prevent the phenomenal Tadej Pogacar from winning his third Tour de France this year. Still, despite all the bad luck the Dutch team has been through this year, they still put up a good fight, with Jonas Vingegaard even winning...

Welsh Cycling's strategy until 2030 sees road and track trumping XC for rider support, DH on a level with cycle speedway, and enduro and e-enduro to get no investment of resourcesKate Courtney at the 2023 MTB XCO World Championships in GlentressMountain biking has been relegated to a second-class sport by Beicio Cymru, formerly known as Welsh Cycling, with XC racing Continue reading

Tour de France podium, white jersey and a stage. There were all the reasons to celebrate at Soudal - Quick-Step in Nice. Remco Evenepoel did exactly what the team hoped he could do, losing only to the two winners of last five Tour editions. On top of that, teammate Mikel Landa added a fifth place ov...