Among the bikes launched ahead of the 2015 Tour de France, it was perhaps Specialized’s revamped Venge – dubbed the Venge ViAS – which garnered the most attention. And two of the Tour’s key riders have been using the striking aero road bike in the race: Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish.
Sagan has enjoyed a remarkable Tour so far. His run of 11 top five finishes from the first 16 stages, without standing on the top step of the podium, may paint Sagan as the eternal bridesmaid, but the Slovak’s consistency and versatility, across a range of terrain, marks him out as one of the finest all-round riders the sport has seen.
Specialized launch 2016 Venge ViAs aero road bike
Sagan has been switching between the Venge ViAS and the original Venge at the Tour, with the Venge ViAS seemingly reserved for all-out sprint stages (same goes for Cavendish, it seems), and the now old-school Venge often preferred for when things are a little lumpier. Whether that’s to do with comfort, weight, the Venge ViAS’s integrated brakes, or just because that’s what Sagan’s used to riding, we don’t know.
Still, we stopped by the Tinkoff-Saxo mechanics’ truck to snap Sagan’s Venge ViAS. Here we go…
