Pro bike: Rigoberto Uran
The machinery of the professional holds an irresistible allure for most fans of cycling. Sleek, lightweight, dressed in flagship components, the bikes ridden in cycling’s elite UCI WorldTour make the sport’s top-tier a shop window for the cycle industry, much as Formula One is the motor industry’s technological showcase.
Rigoberto Uran’s Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL4 is the latest in a series of machines we snapped at Challenge Mallorca and arguably the prettiest so far. Painted in the turquoise and black of Uran’s new employers, Omega Pharma-Quickstep (the Colombian climber has spent the last three years aboard a Team Sky Pinarello Dogma 65.1 Think 2), it’s a striking machine.
A close inspection of Uran’s steed reveals many fascinating details. While the 120mm stem seems short by the standards of the peloton, it’s an apt choice for a rider who fits the template of Colombian climbing sensation to a tee, standing just 173cm tall.
Elsewhere, there’s plenty of bike bling to feast your eyes upon, from a carbon Specailized FACT crank dressed with SRAM Red 22 chainrings, to a set of Zipp 303 Firecrest full carbon hoops shod for Challenge Mallorca with Specialized Turbo All-Round tyres.
If you’re heading to Belfast or Ireland for the Grand Partenza of the Giro d’Italia in May, you’ll be able to see this bike in the flesh. If you can’t wait until then, follow this link to a full-width gallery.
