Marianne Vos won the 3RIDES gravel race in Aachen, Germany this past weekend, the first time out for her rainbow world champ’s jersey, having won the UCI World Gravel Championships in 2024. It wasn’t the only first outing that weekend however, as she appears to have won on-board an unreleased aero version of what must be a new Cervélo Aspero.
Vos completed the course in 3:37:10, beating the chasing group by a decisive 2:25, thanks – perhaps in part at least – to what looks like a very much faster gravel platform, if aero features are anything to go by. This gravel bike looks more S5 than Aspero 5.
A very deep headtube is visibly deeper and more aero than before, in what looks like a much more angular, and slippery design than the current bike. The fork blades and seat tube features a more distinct cutaway for the rear wheel to sit in, clearly borrowing design features familiar from the S5 road bike.
Enhancing the bike’s aerodynamics is a theme that continues with the introduction of an integrated aero seat post; the D-shaped post replaces the traditional round post and seat clamp of the current model.
One image clearly shows a black panel on the downtube, which could suggest new storage in the aero-shaped down tube. Brands like Factor with their latest Monza, and Enve with their Fray have latched on to the recent trend for downtube storage, so it makes sense that Cervélo may be following suit here. Although Vos has C02 strapped to the top tube with electrical tape, so perhaps it's already full of gold medals or something else entirely.
A knock on the existing Aspero is that it only allowed for tyres as wide as 42mm, which places it behind the curve compared to some of its rivals. It’s tricky to see just how much the clearance may have increased but Vos was using Vittoria Terreno T50 tyres in Germany, which do come in up to 50mm width; the tyres were fitted to a set of Reserve wheels.
The bottom bracket has also undergone a facelift. It’s noticeably more chunky than before, suggesting greater stiffness. It’s taller too; Vos was using Sram’s 13-speed Red groupset in Germany and the single chainring appears to be sitting level with the top of the bottom bracket. Again, aero features familiar from S5. This suggests that this new bike is prioritising flat-out speed.
As you’d expect on a contemporary gravel race bike, all the hoses are run internally with Vos using an integrated one-piece cockpit; the current Aspero 5 features a traditional two-piece bar and stem as standard. This one on the new bike, integrates the cables but the top of the headtube appears to feature a recess, perhaps made for an integrated stem bar combo or specific set-up of some sort.
The last takeaway, perhaps unsurprisingly, is the UDH hanger.
