Despite Peter Sagan’s departure from Bora-Hansgrohe at the end of the season for the UCI ProTeam Team TotalEnergies, the 2021 UCI Road World Championships will not be his last on a Specialized bike. The three-time world champion is a man with a huge brand image and significant marketing weight. As such, following the announcement of his signing, Specialized followed suit and announced a deal with the second division squad.

As a three-time world champion, the Slovak clearly has the mental courage to win Sunday’s race, but following a decline in his once clinical form in recent years, many have already written him off as Wout Van Aert (Belgium), Mathieu Van der Poel (Netherlands) and Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) make the headlines. Nonetheless, the fact remains that Sagan cannot be completely sidelined from what is ultimately an itinerary that suits his strengths.

His inclination to victory will be undertaken aboard his team Bora-Hansgrohe Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7. While at first glance the bike is no different from a standard model, there is a choice of specification to note: the derailleur cage and pulley wheels.

Sagan’s bike comes equipped with a 14-tooth lower pulley constructed from aluminum, rather than the 11-tooth thermoplastic option that comes standard on Shimano Dura-Ace.

No markings are present on the pulley itself, but based on Sagan’s relationship with CeramicSpeed, Cycling news think it is This 14 tooth alloy option from CeramicSpeed, which are actually designed for use in 12-speed mountain bikes. Additionally, despite using a Dura-Ace Di2 derailleur, the derailleur cage appears to be from Ultegra – visible through the small hole at the bottom on the outward facing side of the cage.

The obvious conclusion is that Sagan believes that using this configuration has advantages in terms of transmission efficiency, although a potential alternative solution may be a simpler case where Sagan – or Bora-Hansgrohe – suffers from the shortage of parts like the rest of us. . We cannot know for sure.

The rest of the bike is a little less complex. Shimano’s Dura-Ace R9170 groupset provides the rest of the drivetrain and brakes. This may come as a surprise to some, given the recent launch of the new Dura-Ace R9200, but the new group is, interestingly, still a rare sight in the WorldTour and Women’s WorldTour pelotons.

Sagan’s tire choice is interesting given the cobbled nature of Belgian roads, but the choice of aero wheels – Roval’s Rapide CLX – won’t surprise anyone considering the speeds at which climbs will be covered.

The paint on the bike will be unlike any other in the bunch, as it comes from the “Peter Sagan Collection”, a collaboration between the man himself and Specialized, with whom he has launched five collections in total.

Like its wheels, Sagan’s cockpit is as aerodynamic as it gets – without breaking sponsor agreements – as it’s gone with the recently launched Roval Rapide handlebars, which is held in place with the exclusive Tarmac stem.

Bar wrapping is another brand that Sagan has a personal connection with, Supacaz, whose founder is actually the son of Specialized boss Mike Sinyard, and construction completion is even more of the Specialized brand, under the shape of the S-Works Romin Evo saddle.

Tech Specs: Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7 from Peter Sagan