The 2019 Tour Down Under kicked off yesterday with the Down Under Classic, a one hour criterium around a city centre circuit in Adelaide. So what better place for Sagan to ride the Allez Sprint, Specialized’s alloy criterium bike?
Decked out in Bora-Hans Grohe’s livery with a green back end and silver front/lower parts, the Allez Sprint comes with an aero carbon seatpost and aero profile seat tube.
Groupset gets an upgrade from Shimano 105 to Dura-Ace Di2 for the Bora-Hans Grohe team in the tour Down Under Classic
Specialized says that the Allez Sprint’s alloy frame uses D'Aluisio Smartweld Sprint technology, which allows more material to be placed strategically for increased stiffness and compliance where it’s most need.
The frame is coupled to the brand’s top-tier Tarmac Disc FACT carbon fibre fork, for extra stiffness and sharp steering.
Aero seat tube and seatpost - complete with the weld lines between the seat stays and seat tube
You can pick up a stock Allez Sprint with Shimano 105 gearing for £1900, but Sagan’s machine was kitted out with fancier components: he had an upgrade to Dura-Ace Di2, while the alloy DT Swiss wheels are replaced with deep section Roval CLX64 carbon wheels. In another departure from the normal pro fare, the Rovals are clinchers rather than tubs.
With the short duration, flat course and sharp bends of the Tour Down Under Classic, Specialized obviously decided it was a great opportunity to show off the other bikes in its catalogue, besides the high end S-Works carbon numbers. It didn't seem as if riding an Allez slowed Sagan down much, as he raced to second place.
Paul started writing for Cycling Weekly in 2015, covering cycling tech, new bikes and product testing. Since then, he’s reviewed hundreds of bikes and thousands of other pieces of cycling equipment for the magazine and the Cycling Weekly website.
He’s been cycling for a lot longer than that though and his travels by bike have taken him all around Europe and to California. He’s been riding gravel since before gravel bikes existed too, riding a cyclocross bike through the Chilterns and along the South Downs.
