It was a great weekend for McLaren with Lewis Hamilton's victory at the Santander German Grand Prix, but this wasn’t our only success - cyclist 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, awarded to the rider who scores the most points over the course of the tour, just a couple of hours after Lewis took the chequered flag at the Nurburgring. Cavendish won five of 21 stages, including the final one which ends on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

“I’m super happy; it [the victory] did not come easy. I was close the previous years but now the goal is achieved. It’s been an incredible day,” he said.

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.

We’ll keep you posted on how the Venge does in future races!