Mathieu van der Poel's Tour de France bike: An all white, all new Aeroad

Mathieu van der Poel's new canyon ultimate

We've spotted Dutch megastar of cycling Mathieu van der Poel aboard a new model of the Canyon Aeroad since Milan San Remo in the spring. Since that race he's always been on the matte metallic red bike, but for the Tour de France it's been swapped out for an optic white model. It is, to all intents and purposes, the same bike, but its the first time we've been allowed hands-on time with it since getting up close and personal with it at the Tour of Flanders. 

A truly prolific winner in his own right, it seems that Van der Poel has swapped roles at the Tour to become the outstanding lead-out rider in the peloton, going all-in to help his teammate Jasper Philipsen rack up stage wins and green jersey points. The duo are perhaps the best sprint combination in the world right now, despite Philipsen being on the older (current) model of the Aeroad.

For now, though, let's delve into this all white speed machine. If this tickles your fancy then be sure to head back and look over the other pro bikes we've documented from the Tour this year, included Fred Wright's Merida Reacto, Jonas Vingegaard's Cervelo S5, and Mads Pederson's Trek Madone with the wildest paintjob of any bike at the race. 

The silhouette of the new Aeroad is essentially the same as the current model, with deep tube shapes, a near horizontal top tube, and for Van der Poel at any rate, a very racy position (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

The pure optic white paintjob is stark in a world of overly elaborate pro-only paintjobs, but it certainly makes the monochromatic sponsor logos pop. The design of the fork crown seems to have converged along with that of the Ultimate and the Inflite. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

A deep headtube smooths the airflow, while the nearly slammed stem puts Van der Poel into a more aero position himself, whether on the hoods or the relatively deep, classic shaped drops of the bars.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

The Canyon integrated cockpit is now shared between the Aeroad and the Ultimate, adding aero gains to the more all-round model (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

That's about as low as it's possible to get the front end of the bike without resorting to a much more drastic negative rise on the cockpit, which isn't produced by Canyon. Hiding all the hoses internally helps keep pesky round things out of the wind.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

The 17g 3D printed computer mount isn't used by all the team, but is by Van der Poel. Aero is king, but weight is still important. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

The cockpit isn't a single piece, rather the central T-section is common, and the curved portions bolt on to allow different widths to be run. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

Elite Custom Race Plus bottle cages keep the vital hydration in place securely (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

While many teams run a Shimano groupset and different wheels, Alpecin-Deceuninck are one of a handful that run an entirely Shimano build, including the wheels. It is rare that we see Van der Poel not using the Dura-Ace C50 wheels, even in the mountains.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

The new Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres provide the traction, here in a 28c width as is becoming the new normal in the age of disc brakes. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

The new tyre is tubeless ready, and it runs tubeless here as evidenced by the valve. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

The seat post of the Aeroad is extremely deep, here topped by a Selle Italia Flite saddle. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

Pros often run a bike a little smaller than consumers would for a given height for a lower weight and shorter wheelbase. It does mean they often have to compensate by running a longer stem and/or a greater setback on their saddles, as seen here and on Tom Pidcock's bike.  (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

The previous seat clamp for the Aeroad was located at the rear, on the seat post itself. Here it's in the much more standard position for a modern bike, on the top tube just fore of the seat post itself. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

A very pro 54/40 chainset transfers Van der Poel's massive wattage to the rear wheel (Image credit: Josh Croxton)

It may feel to many of us like Dura-Ace has been around forever, and depending on your perspective, the fact that it's been around for 50 years may confirm that feeling or come as a surprise. In any case, a bike running a full Dura-Ace build does seem a fitting place for a 50th anniversary decal from Shimano. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)