Pro bike check: Mathieu van der Poel's custom Canyon Aeroad
A new Aeroad from Canyon with a paint scheme fit for a World Champion
Reigning road race world champion Mathieu van der Poel has been enjoying his time in the rainbow bands already this year with a historical Classics campaign. Since he drew a close to his spring campaign at Liège-Bastogne-Liège where he finished on the podium, Van der Poel did not race again until lining up in Florence at the start of the Tour de France.
On his way to claiming victory at E3 Saxo Classic, Ronde Van Vlaanderen, and Paris-Roubaix, Van der Poel rode a very simple white Canyon Aeroad with only small and modest hints of his world champion status.
For the biggest race in cycling Van der Poel’s Aeroad, although still subtle in comparison to the previous world champion colourways, is now a little bolder with rainbow stripes adorning the down tube, fork and seat tube.
It's not just the paint job that is new, Van der Poel is also riding a currently unreleased Canyon Aeroad that was first spotted at the Critérium du Dauphiné. Although at first glance the new frameset looks to share a near-identical silhouette to the current Aeroad there are some clear changes to further optimise the bike to be as slippery through the wind as possible.
The understated paint scheme uses the same glossy white undercoat that Van der Poel has been riding throughout this season, but going for a paint splatter effect leaves the white undercoat space to peek through, which helps to makes for a more understated look.
The new bike looks to be a refresh to the existing platform rather than a redesign with a series of small tweaks updating the bike's aerodynamic credentials.
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