{"id":719016,"date":"2026-06-06T13:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T13:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/719016\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T13:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T13:02:13","slug":"spotted-specialized-tarmac-sl9-project-black-at-tour-auvergne-rhone-alpes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/719016\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotted: Specialized Tarmac SL9 ‘Project Black’ at Tour Auvergne-Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The cycling world is abuzz following the latest sighting of the unreleased Specialized Tarmac SL9 at the Tour Auvergne-Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes<\/a>, previously known as the Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The bike was first spotted on the roof of a Red <\/a>Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team car <\/a>during an altitude-training camp in Sierra Nevada, Spain. But this time, we got a much closer look.<\/p>\n

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We spotted the bike outside a team truck where mechanics were setting up the bike on precise measuring equipment, presumably preparing it for its first public race outing on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Latest Videos From<\/p>\n

Should this indeed be the new Tarmac SL9, here’s what we can glean about the bike’s changes and developments.<\/p>\n

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\"Spy\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Andrew Daley)<\/p>\n

What’s new<\/p>\n

Both sightings thus far were of the bike Specialized\u2019s stealthy pre-production “Project Black” livery, a designation the brand uses for developing and testing future products through professional athlete feedback.<\/p>\n

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The frameset showcases a clear shift toward greater aerodynamic performance compared to its predecessor, the SL8. Notable changes include a reshaped fork with a chunkier crown and deeper blades, alongside a seat tube designed to hug the rear wheel closely.<\/p>\n

The seatpost has also evolved into a deep-section aerodynamic blade, signalling Specialized’s intent to further optimise its flagship race rig for top-end speed.<\/p>\n

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

As the Tour Auvergne-Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes serves as a crucial warm-up for the Tour de France, the presence of the SL9 here suggests that we may see the bike in action at summer’s main event.<\/p>\n

While Specialized maintains its standard “Project Black” protocol regarding unreleased tech, these considered design choices indicate a machine that aims to balance its legendary comfort with a new benchmark in aerodynamic efficiency.<\/p>\n

We reached out to Specialized, but the brand remains mum on the subject, stating: “Specialized relies on feedback from professional athletes in both developing and testing advanced pre-production products in real-world applications. With this top-level feedback, some of these design elements and products eventually show up in future retail product offerings. We call this Project Black.”<\/p>\n

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\"Spy\n<\/p>\n

The wide set fork crown appears to be completely new <\/p>\n

(Image credit: Andrew Daley)<\/p>\n

Explore More<\/p>\n


\nSpecialized
\n<\/a>
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\nTour Auvergne-Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes
\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The cycling world is abuzz following the latest sighting of the unreleased Specialized Tarmac SL9 at the Tour…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":719017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":["post-719016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/719017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}