Specialized has officially released a new pair of top-end road shoes named the S-Works Torch Remco.
The shoes carry a retail price of $699 /£549 and the brand claims they are the lightest shoes in the peloton at 148.2g per shoe for a size EU 41.5 (Evenepoel's shoe size).
They are also claimed to be 65.1 grams lighter than the S-Works Torch.
Remco Evenepoel raced several Tour de France stages in the third and final prototype versions of the shoes at last year's race, and they are apparently a result of a direct request from the reigning double Olympic champion, who wanted a lightweight shoe to use for longer, sustained climbs.
Given the brief from the Olympic and World champion, who communicated with the Specialized team via WhatsApp to provide feedback, it's clear weight saving has been a top priority for the shoe.
The shoes use a single Boa Li2 dial alongside a velcro closure strap and simple mesh upper. There's a nylon injected heel counter and toe cap, and Specialized has fitted a smaller carbon fibre plate in the sole, which saves weight and achieves "just the right amount" of stiffness after a lot of research.
Whilst Specialized doesn't quote the exact stiffness threshold numbers or stats, the press material for the shoes states that if your FTP is less than Evenepoel's and your max power is under 2000 watts, you won't have to worry, which sounds fair enough!
A new Body Geometry foot last, with a wider toe box, also features, which the brand claims reduces forefoot pressure by 44% while optimising stiffness and foot hold. This last also features on the latest S-Works Ares shoes.
If you fancy a pair, the shoes have less structure and hold than the S-Works Ares, and come in one colour - White / Phantom Orange.
In a fun addition, Specialized says the orange coloured strap was the colour of the only available material on hand at the time of prototyping, and the brand decided to stick with it as a nod to the development process.
Evenepoel has raced in various pairs of shoes over the last few years; some of the changes have come about due to model changes, but the Belgian star has changed his shoes around fairly regularly.
For instance, Evenepoel used the original S-Works Ares shoes (now superseded by the Ares 2) to win the 2022 World Championships road race. In 2023 and 2024, he won World Time Trial titles using the same shoes and then the S-Works Torch Lace, and used the same pair to take double gold medals in the road race and time trial at the Paris Olympics last year. The early prototype of the now-released Torch Remco slotted into his options list last year in time for the Tour.
It's common to see pro riders stick with the same shoes religiously; the perceived wisdom on that is that finding consistency and comfort when riding and racing so much is the way to go. Let's be honest, it could also just come down to picking the model from the team sponsor that fits the best; not every pro rider has an exclusive shoe deal.
Evenepoel appears to have at least been searching for something with his shoe selections, and now it seems he is even choosing specific shoes for certain terrain or races, an interesting point and something that certainly ties into the microscopic level of detail that pro riders and teams are operating at nowadays.
According to Ashley Sult, Manager of Footwear Development at Specialized, Evenepoel knew exactly what he wanted for big climbing days.
“Remco came to us in October of 2023 with a specific ask: provide him with a tool to add to his toolbox for the Tour. The tool he was looking for was a shoe that could be used in races with long, sustained climbs. He was clear that he felt a lightweight shoe would make a big difference in the mountain stages of the Tour."
An interesting quote from the shoe's press release also mentioned how Evenepoel could carry more water on climbs as a result of the weight saving, which seems pretty extreme, but given how far cycling's marginal gains have come, it's not too eyebrow-raising.
The Tour de France is just days away, and time will tell if Evenepoel's new climbing shoes will help him triumph in the Tour's high mountains against Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard.
