Posted on July 27, 2012 for The Bike Source. 

The Tour de France is among the most prestigious bike races on Earth. Not only do the world’s most elite cyclists pedal it out, the race also displays some of the world’s fastest, lightest and strongest innovations in racing technology.

This year, a lot of the talk before the Tour was about Tony Martin’s Specialized S-Works Turbo Clincher Tires, and rightfully so. With the lowest rolling resistance of any tire, the S-Works clinchers were are the fastest tires available according to the Wheel Energy Tire Testing Lab in Finland.

But Tony Martin, rider for Team Omega Pharma-Quick Step, current World Time Trial Champion and winner of the 2012 German National TT Championships and Tour of Belgium, experienced two flats on S-Works clinchers during both the Tour de France’s prologue and first individual TT this year.

Specialized Director of Tire Development Wolf VolmWalde explained what caused these flats: a piece of glass on the road during the prologue and failure from the inside of the tubes. In this event, VolmWalde said, the glass would have damaged any tire. The failures from the time trial will be examined in endurance tests to isolate and fix the problem.

Volm Walde explained that flats in racing are part of the development process. “It’s important to note that none of these punctures are a result of Tony’s decision to race on our clincher tire. The S-Works Turbo Clincher Tire is the fastest, best handling clincher tire ever developed,” he said.

S-Works Turbo Clinchers have a 220tpi casing, minimal breaker belt and a paper-thin sub 1mm tread.  This year, every other member of the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team rode the Tour with Specialized S-Works Turbo Clincher Tires without problem.

Competitive road riders need a fast, light and tough tire; the Specialized S-Works Turbo Clincher meets those needs.