27/07/2011
NEWS STORY
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Just hours after McLaren's Lewis Hamilton won the German Grand Prix, Mark Cavendish won the prestigious Tour de France green jersey... on an S-Works + McLaren Venge bike.
Cavendish became the first Briton to claim the jersey, which is awarded to the rider who scores the most points over the course of the tour, just a couple of hours after Hamilton took the chequered flag at the Nurburgring. Cavendish won five of 21 stages, including the final one which ends on the legendary Champs-Elysees in Paris.
"I'm super happy; it did not come easy," he said. "I was close the previous years but now the goal is achieved. It's been an incredible day."
McLaren Applied Technologies (MAT) developed the S-Works + McLaren Venge in collaboration with Specialized, the American performance bike manufacturer. It was launched in March this year and won its first race - Italy's Milan-San Remo one day sprint event. Matthew Goss, riding the bike, became the first ever Australian to win the race.
Specialized found the perfect match in MAT when looking for a carbon fibre expert to take the bike's frame to an even more extreme level of stiffness, weight and aerodynamic performance. MAT was able to improve its efficiency by 10-15 per cent by optimising the way the carbon was cut and applied - more than anything previously seen in the cycling world.
"The collaboration with McLaren Applied Technologies allowed us to dive further into analysis, optimisation, and cutting edge manufacturing which make the Venge truly state-of-the-art," said Specialized's composite design engineer Brad Paquin.