Mathieu van der Poel requests rainbow redesign for his Canyon Aeroad

World champion sticks with white frame but adds non-traditional rainbow shades and touches of iridescence

11:00, Tuesday 23rd April 2024

Patrick Fletcher

Deputy Editor

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Mathieu van der Poel's new-look Canyon Aeroad CFR

Mathieu van der Poel rode a new custom edition of his Canyon Aeroad CFR to the podium of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, with the world champion himself requesting a new look to the bike on which he won the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

The new design sees Van der Poel stick with a white frame, featuring flashes of paint on the head tube and top tube to reflect his rainbow jersey in representing his status as the road race world champion.

There is, however, a very liberal approach to the shades of the rainbow used, with hues of rusty red, sea green, and bronzed yellow, as opposed to traditional block colours.

A closer look at the rainbow colours

The other feature of the new look is iridescence, which adds to the rainbow theme through the varying reflection of light off the various surfaces. These include a pair of striking bottle cages, as well as strips for all the main logos, including that of Canyon on the downtube and those of sponsors such as Shimano and Zwift.

The bike comes with iridescent bottle cages and logos

The top tube comes with a plaque bearing Van der Poel’s name and a flag with the colours of the UCI rainbow jersey, as well as written text that reads ‘Mathieu van der Poel . UCI World Champion . Glasgow 06.08.2023’. That’s where Van der Poel soloed to his maiden road world title in stunning fashion last summer.

The world champion theme is topped with a strip of rainbow bands on the Selle Italia Flite Boost saddle.

Mathieu van der Poel's branding as seen on his new frame

The new design, which Alpecin-Deceunink revealed was “on the request of the world champion himself”, was debuted at Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday, where Van der Poel rode to third place.

For the previous races in his Classics campaign, he rode a more understated bike, with an all-white frame and a small strip of traditionally-coloured rainbow bands on the seat stays. He also had a spare bike with increased rainbow colouring on the main sections of the frame but, with the Dutchman enjoying a largely mechanical-free run in the spring, it was rarely called into action.

Mathieu van der Poel racing on the new design at Liège-Bastogne-Liège

The podium in Liège marks the culmination of one of the great Classics campaigns in history, with Van der Poel doing the Flanders-Roubaix double, as well as winning E3 Saxo Classic, finishing runner-up at Gent-Wevelgem, and helping his teammate Jasper Philipsen to victory at Milan-San Remo.

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