These pics, snapped by Etixx Quick-Step team rider Fernando Gaviria show what looks very much like a disc brake equipped Specialized Venge Vias. Clues include the use of Shimano’s hydraulic brake levers, the lack of any brake on the fork’s crown and a big thru-axle lever protrusion on the left. These are spread across three pics from his Instagram and Twitter feeds, and the fact that they haven’t been pulled down yet suggest the Big S can’t be too far off on this.
While we haven’t ridden the Vias edition ourselves, we’ve hung around the pro’s pits long enough to hear that the original version’s braking was sub par in favor of maximized aerodynamics. This could be just the fix this bike needs to put its overall performance on par with its astounding aesthetics…
All of the photos keep any rotor or caliper just out of view, doing an excellent job of fueling speculation, but the top image that clearly shows the fork without a rim brake caliper leaves few other options.
Above, you can see what appears to be a DT Swiss thru axle sticking out the left side, which is odd in that Specialized is almost certainly going to be providing Roval wheels for team use. Could just be the angle, or just what they had laying around the team truck in a pinch.
We’ve reached out to Specialized for comment and will report back as necessary.
Thanks to everyone that sent these links in!