While we were in Denia, Spain recently to sit down with Mathieu van der Poel and hear about his 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:plans for 2023, wඣe also managed to get a sneaky look at his Canyon Aeroad CFR race bike. 

An Alpecin Deceuninck team mechanic had just finished cleaning the bike after a training ride so was happy to take it off the stand and hand it over to let us take some pictures. We al♎soꦿ managed to spot a few little interesting points on the bike which are easy to miss at first glance. 

Like in recent years, Van der Poel will be riding the Canyon Aeroad CFR for 2023 and, atﷺ around 1.8 metres tall, is riding a size large frame. He will ride a simple yet effective block red-and-white colour scheme.

Alpecin-Deceuninck step up to the UCI WorldTour for 2023 and as can be expected from such a big team and for one of the best cyclists in the world, the Dutchman's bike is a super high-en♈d, no-nonsense package. 

Shimano supplies the team with equipment and Van der Poel's bike is fitted with a Dura-Ace R9200 12-speed groupset. Dura-Ace C36 wheels were also fitted to the bike for training but expect to s🤡ee Van der Poel running the deeper profile C✤50 or C60 wheels regularly in races next year. 

An 11-34t cassette at the rear was paired with 54-40t chainrings at the front, as is common on a lot of WorldTour riders' bikes now. The crank arm length on Van der Poel's bike was 172.5mm and fitted to the power meter equipped chainset were Dura-Ace SPD-SL pedals with a normal-length axle fitted. Some pro riders like 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Ben Swift prefer the extended🔴 version to ac🃏hieve their correct bike fit. 

Elsewhere on the bike, the handlebar tape and the saddle are taken care of by Selle Italia, with a white Flite saddle with carbon fibre rails being a longtime favourite of the Dutchman. Bottle cages are the Elite Custom 🌊Race Plus, used by several World Tour teams. Like most pro riders, Van der Poel had a name sticker in a prominent position on the top tube of the frame. This helps the mechanics as mu𓄧ch as anyone and lets them identify the correct bike every time. 

Van der Poel's bike looks to be equipped with the Canyon CP0018 adjustable cockpit. The handlebar width is adjustable, as is the stem height without the need to cut the steerer tube. This bar has been through a redesign by Canyon after Van der Poel's 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:handlebars snapped during the 2021 Le Samyn race. 

Van der Poel also looks to runꦚ a fai🌺rly aggressive lever position, with his STI levers turned in to aid aerodynamics but also positioned quite far down the handlebars compared to most riders. 

Van der Poel's front derailleur mou☂nt caught our eye. It appeared to have had the paint removed from the mounting surface, we suspect by team mechanics. This could possibly be in an effort to achieve the best possible front derailleur alignment and setup, and excess or uneven paint here won't help this.

There has been a spate of 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:high-profile chain drops since the launch of the new 12-speed Shimano groupseཧts and the chainset on Van der Poel's bike did have what looks to be some scratch marks from chain drops, as can be seen in the picture below. Perhaps this small 𒁃modification is to just try and provide some insurance in the heat of battle; a dropped chain costing in a win is the last thing any rider or mechanic wants. 

You can also make out the white Shimano magnet taped onto the end of the chainstay of the bike to work wiಞthꦺ the power meter crank and measure Van der Poel's cadence whilst riding. 

Interestingly the Dura Ace C36 wheels pictured had a Shimano Ultegra 34t cassette fitted - not Dura Ace - as you might expect. ⛄Dura-Ace cassettes aren't cheap, so we suspect the team is either economising slightly in the wintertime or they are waiting on some more equipment to arrive for the race season.

𒐪Van der Poel's rear derailleur ꦚDi2 wire has been zip-tied down to help reduce the risk of it being caught and pulled out unnecessarily, or shaken loose over rough ground. It's another small touch that gives that little bit of extra insurance when the stakes are high. 

On this particular day, Van der Poel was running Vittoria Corsa tyres in a 25mm width, and the team mechanic also told us the team runs inner tubes for training citing the lower hassle required and tubeless setups or tubulars for race day on🌸ly. 

This makes sense as a puncture in training just means a wheel or bike change and a pro mechanic is going to be able to change a tube quicker ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚthan most.