Mathieu van der Poel’s Tour de France bike is monochromatic, aggressive and hides a new seat clamp design

All-Shimano build is clean as a whistle

By Jack Luke

Published: Sunday, 16 July 2023 at 12:00 am

Mathieu van der Poel started out his 2023 Tour de France campaign onboard this custom-painted Canyon Aeroad CFR.

The super-clean white bike is one of three bikes the Dutch multidiscipline superstar has ridden at this year’s race.

Van der Poel has since switched to his regular metallic-red Canyon Aeroad after racing this and a special-edition Raymond Poulidor tribute bike in the first week of the Tour de France.

While subdued, this all-white paintjob – officially dubbed ‘MvdP white’ by Canyon – is handsome in a muted sort of way.

Let’s take a closer look.

A go-fast cockpit for the world’s best lead-out man

"Mathieu
Van der Poel runs a single spacer beneath his CP0015 cockpit.
Simon von Bromley / Our Media

The integrated cockpit of van der Poel’s bike is as good as slammed with only a teeny-tiny spacer sitting beneath the stem.

Though not as extreme as the setup used by some riders, van der Poel hasn’t been able to resist the urge to tilt his hoods slightly inwards in chase of further aero gains.

Jasper Philipsen’s lead-out man will want to ensure he’s efficient as possible when pushing watts in a sprint.

"Mathieu
His Wahoo bike computer is fitted to a 3D-printed mount.
Simon von Bromley / Our Media

In terms of measurements, van der Poel’s Canyon’s CP0015 cockpit has an 11cm stem length, with the width-adjustable handlebar set at 40cm.

"40cm
Van der Poel runs a 40cm handlebar.
George Scott / Our Media

With many riders at the 2023 Tour running a 36cm or 38cm bar, that’s a fairly conservative setup.

A neat 3D-printed out-front mount is fitted to the underside of the bar.

"11cm
An 11cm stem for MVDP.
George Scott / Our Media

Seat clamp change made official?

"Mathieu
Has Canyon officially rolled out this new seat clamp design? That appears to be the case.
Simon von Bromley / Our Media

Van der Poel’s Aeroad features an exposed expander wedge on the top tube just in front of the seatpost. A similar design is used on many of the best aero road bikes.

This design is different to both that seen on the existing consumer version of the Aeroad and the bike he rode to victory at Milan-San Remo.

The bike seen at Milan San Remo hid the expanding wedge inside the top tube. It is exposed on van der Poel’s Tour de France bike.

"Seatpost
Seatpost clamp bolt on Mathieu van der Poel’s new Canyon Aeroad, although Canyon appears to have since revised the design, with the expander wedge now visible next to the seatpost.
George Scott / Our Media
"Canyon
The seat clamp was previously accessed via the back of the seat tube. 
Simon von Bromley / Our Media
"Mathieu
The new design can also be seen on consumer bikes on the Canyon website.
Simon von Bromley / Our Media

The original seat clamp – used on the consumer version of the Aeroad to date – adopted a design similar to that of the Canyon Ultimate, clamping as low as possible on the seat tube to enable the post to flex. This is said to improve rear-end comfort. The clamp was accessed from the rear of the bike between the seatstays.

Looking at the Canyon web store, it appears the change seen on van der Poel’s latest bike has carried over to at least some of the brand’s top-end versions of the Aeroad.

A Selle Italia Flite saddle slammed all the way back on its rails sits atop the deep aero-profiled seatpost.

An all-Shimano build

"Mathieu
Shimano supplies van der Poel’s team with both wheelsets and groupsets.
Simon von Bromley / Our Media

Van der Poel’s build is dominated by Shimano parts, covering both the groupset components and wheels.

When we saw van der Poel’s bike at the Grand Départ in Bilbao, it featured Shimano Dura-Ace C50 wheels, shod with a pair of 28c Vittoria Corsa Pro TLR tyres.

"Mathieu
28c tyres have become the de facto standard on modern WorldTour bikes.
Simon von Bromley / Our Media

Those tyres inflate to 29.3mm on the C50’s 21mm internal rim width.

That’s still wide by modern standards – but not as wide as the tyres seen on Tadej Pogačar’s Colnago V4Rs.

"Mathieu
The Vittoria tyres inflate to 29.3mm.
George Scott / Our Media

On Pogačar’s bike, the (nominally) 28c Continental Grand Prix5000 TT TR tyres inflate to 31.3mm (front) and 32.2mm (rear) on the 25mm internal rim width of the ENVE SES 4.5 wheels.

Back to van der Poel’s bike, and the wheelset is paired with the near-ubiquitous Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 Di2 groupset, with van der Poel opting for 54/40t chainrings.

How much does Mathieu van der Poel’s bike weigh?

"Mathieu
We weighed the bike in at 7.945kg as pictured.
George Scott / Our Media

The Aeroad is Canyon’s aero road bike, with the Ultimate sitting alongside it at the top of the German direct-sales brand’s range as a lightweight all-rounder.

We put van der Poel’s bike on the BikeRadar scales at the Tour de France – and, in full team trim, it comes in at 7.94kg.

Mathieu van der Poel’s Canyon Aeroad | Specs

"Mathieu
The special-edition white bike has been made available to consumers.
Simon von Bromley / Our Media
  • Frameset: Canyon Aeroad CFR MVDP
  • Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace R9250 Di2
  • Wheelset: Shimano Dura-Ace C50
  • Tyres: Vittoria Corsa Speed, 28c (29.4mm measured), tubeless
  • Cockpit: Canyon CP0015, 11cm stem, 40cm handlebar
  • Saddle: Selle Italia Flite Boost Kit Carbonio Superflow MVDP Edt
  • Weight: 7.945kg
"Mathieu
Van der Poel rode a different custom bike on stage nine, with a paintjob that paid tribute to his grandfather, Raymond Poulidor. The stage started in Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, home town of the Tour de France legend, who won seven stages at the race and finished on the overall podium eight times.
Tim de Waele / Getty Images