Check out Vincenzo Nibali's Tour de France-winning Specialized Tarmac from 2014 – complete with shark paint job

It’s just 10 years since Vincenzo Nibali won the Tour de France but bike tech has developed so much since then that it’s interesting to look back at his Specialized S-Works Tarmac and see how things have changed. The 2024 Tour starts in Florence, Italy, in less than a fortnight, and that’s all the excuse we need to go rooting back through the race archives.

Although he already had Vuelta a España and Giro d’Italia victories to his name and had finished on the Tour de France podium in 2012, Sicilian Nibali had never won the Tour going into the 2014 race. This was the year the Tour started in Yorkshire with colossal crowds all along the route. Mark Cavendish crashed on the opening day and didn’t start the following morning. A decade later, Cav will be back this year to try to take record for Tour de France stage wins outright.

Nibali won the second stage from York to Sheffield and, with it, the yellow jersey. Although he lost the race lead to Tony Gallopin on stage nine, he regained it the following day and then wore yellow all the way to the finish. Winning by 7:39mins, this was a race that Nibali dominated.

On to the bike, then… We had a good look at Nibali’s newly released Specialized Tarmac before the race start. Specialized added disc brakes to the Tarmac platform for the first time with this generation, but they weren’t permitted in road racing at the time due to UCI rules.

> Check out our review of the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 

Specialized said that one of its biggest developments with this iteration was that it was able to make all sizes of the Tarmac feel and behave identically by fine-tuning the carbon construction. It also tweaked the down tube profile to improve aerodynamics and gave the Tarmac a recessed seatpost collar.

This meant that more unsupported seatpost extended out of the frame, increasing the compliance on offer. The big news with this update, though, was the introduction of disc brakes, but they didn’t appear in the pro peloton until a trial period the following year.

Vincenzo Nibali’s bike was given a blue glitter finish and shark design around the head tube. Why a shark? It’s a reference to his nickname: the Shark of the Messina, the Shark of the Strait, or simply the Shark.

Nibali’s bike was fitted with a Campagnolo Super Record mechanical groupset even though EPS electronic components had been available from the Italian brand since late 2011 (and most other teams were using electronic Shimano Dura-Ace Di2). The one deviation from the Campag groupset was the Specialized S-Works carbon crankset.

Astana was the only pro team to ride wheels from Corima, Nibali’s bike fitted with the French company’s Viva S wheelset featuring a 32mm-deep carbon fibre rim with a 22.6mm width, and coming with a claimed weight of 1,190g.

He used an FSA carbon-fibre handlebar, stem and seatpost. The 130mm OS-99 stem had the thinnest sliver of a spacer below it, with a 5mm spacer above and a Specialized Body Geometry stem cap.

Tyres were Veloflex Carbon tubulars in a 23mm width. Even for the time, that was an old-school option with many other riders opting for 24mm or 25mm. These days, 23mm tyres are seldom seen in the pro peloton – 25s and 28s are much more common – and tubulars are a rarity too, most teams opting for tubeless setups.

> Have we witnessed the death of tubular tyres? Why tubeless now rules the Tour de France peloton 

Despite the black electrical tape and marker pen action, Nibali’s saddle was clearly a Fizik Antares. Other team riders were on sponsor-correct Specialized saddles, but Nibali knew what he liked and had the logos covered up.

An SRM Powermeter, a pair of carbon-fibre Tacx bottle cages, and Look pedals completed his bike.

Photo: Brakethrough Media

By the final stage of the 2014 Tour de France, when it was clear he would win, Nibali’s Specialized Tarmac had been given the yellow treatment. Rather than simply painting everything yellow, the team matched the black base with yellow decals and graphics. There was a small picture of a yellow jersey on the top tube.

Corima delivered yellow stickered wheels to match the frame and Look provided yellow pedals. Campagnolo supplied yellow hoods for the Super Record mechanical groupset, and FSA produced a yellow stem, handlebar and seatpost. Yellow bar tape completed the bike.

Vincenzo Nibali is one of only seven riders to win all three Grand Tours during their career.

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