Remco Evenepeol has been photographed driving in what seems to be a pair of prototype Specialised S-Works footwear.
The footwear made solely a fleeting look on the ft of Evenepoel throughout Soudal – QuickStep’s coaching trip forward of stage 1 in Florence. When the Belgian celebrity lined up for the Grand Depart he was sporting the S-Works Torch lace-up mannequin, suggesting these are nonetheless within the testing part versus being an all too acquainted ‘delicate launch’.
When Biking Weekly requested Specialised for touch upon the pictures, a spokesperson all however confirmed our expectations, saying: “Specialised depends on suggestions from skilled athletes in each creating and testing superior pre-production merchandise in real-world purposes.”
They added: “With this top-level suggestions, a few of these design parts and merchandise ultimately present up in future retail product choices. We name this Mission Black.”
(Picture credit score: Getty Photographs / Tim de Waele)
So what can we inform from these coaching trip pictures?
The plain particulars are the 2 straps; the highest strap is tightened utilizing a Boa dial, whereas the decrease one appears to be fixed utilizing velcro. The looks is considerably akin to an amalgamation of the S-Works Ares dash footwear, which use a strap system however with two extra centrally positioned Boa dials, and the Torch footwear which characteristic a decrease velcro strap.
The prototype makes use of what appears to be a metallic Boa dial too, as seen on the present S-Works Torch mannequin.
(Picture credit score: Getty Photographs / Tim de Waele)
If this prototype is an up to date Ares nevertheless, then it might be fairly the departure.
Whereas the straps bear a resemblance this new shoe doesn’t use the internal mesh sock of the unique Ares. In consequence, it doesn’t characteristic the cutaways which make the mesh seen. As a substitute the higher seems to be a one-piece design, with perforations throughout nearly all of the entrance and aspect. It makes for a design that appears, to the attention a minimum of, extra sturdy than the Ares but additionally probably heavier too. Is that this supposed as extra of an all-round race shoe, then?
(Picture credit score: Getty Photographs / Tim de Waele)
The only, black on the entrance and white on the rear, appears to wrap across the higher on the heel, entrance and sides of the shoe. Whereas we are able to’t inform the development, it’s more likely to be much like the I-bam carbon outsole used on the Torch lace-up footwear that Evenpeol has worn within the race so far.
It is going to be fascinating to see if Remco places the footwear into play over the subsequent three weeks, and in that case, which levels he wears them for. Provided that the primary two levels featured a strong quantity of climbing and had been performed in searingly scorching temperatures, maybe this new shoe isn’t his most popular alternative within the mountains or the warmth.
Possibly, given the double strap which ought to promote loads of foot safety, they’ll make an look in the course of the testing gravel stage in Troyes?
New, unreleased bikes ridden on the Tour de France have been simpler to identify than these ‘Mission Black footwear’, with what appears to be an up to date Canyon Aeroad and a brand new Van Rysel aero machine ridden in plain view in the course of the opening levels.
