Mathieu van der Poel defeated Strade Bianche riding the carbon fiber specification of Canyon’s Aeroad frame, Aeroad CF SL, after its handlebar malfunction during Le Samyn on Tuesday, prompting Canyon to request its teams to use “bikes” alternatives”.
All Canyon sponsored athletes were forced to switch bikes after Van der Poel’s handlebars inexplicably broke during the final stages of Le Samyn, leaving the Dutchman needing to throw away some of his bars and complete the race with his shifter hanging from the cables.
Before the race, it was rumored that Van der Poel and his teammates would switch to Canyon’s lightweight racing bike, Ultimate, which shares the same high-spec CFR carbon configuration as their favorite Aeroad racing bike.
However, tech-savvy viewers would have noticed that the Dutchman was actually flying an Aeroad.
Both the state-of-the-art Aeroad CFR and the second-tier Aeroad CF SLX are currently under investigation by Canyon, as they both use the same integrated cockpit with adjustable bars and feather stylus that fit Le Samyn. However, the lower spec Aeroad CF SL uses the CP10 cockpit found in the previous Aeroad model, giving Van der Poel another option.
It may be that the mechanics at Alpecin-Fenix simply exchanged the fork of a CF SL for their CFR frame, however, the frame he set up for victory at Strade Bianche had the cables now routed externally entering the frame on the side not trigger the main tube.
The integrated design of the CFR means that there are no cable entry ports in the frame, as evidenced by a close look at the same area of the CFR frame that it ran in Le Samyn.
One possible explanation for this is that mechanics used Van der Poel’s Aeroad CFR structure with a drill to provide cable ports, allowing him to use his usual racing bike with the oldest externally routed cockpit. However, the most likely scenario is that Van der Poel has assembled the CF SL already available.
Assuming that Canyon did not provide Van der Poel with an exclusive CFR model with external cabling, any of the above explanations goes a long way to clarifying the importance of aerodynamics versus weight for Van der Poel.
The CF SL is said to share exactly the same tube shapes as the CFR Aeroad model, so the aerodynamic performance of the lower layer frame will share the same 7.4 watt improvement that Canyon claims the new Aeroad offers in its predecessor.
We are not aware of any aerodynamic tests that directly compare the new Aeroad frame format with that of the Ultimate, but the difference is likely to be significant.
The weight of the Aeroad CF SL frame is quoted by Canyon at 1,020g, against the 915g frame of the CFR, and the 614g hyper-light figure quoted for the Ultimate CFR.
The change also shows the capacity of current ‘economical’ bicycles.
Aeroad CF SL is available at a starting price of £ 3699.00, Shimano 105 footwear. The Corse Van Der Poel structure has been specified with the top-level components you would expect to find in the WorldTour squad, with Shimano Dura – Ace groups and wheels.