For many professional cyclists, the off-season often means getting used to new equipment, new bike models, or switching to one or more new makes. Team leaders and star riders are often involved in winter training camps to develop new equipment and test prototypes.

The days of frames with re-badged badges and custom-made bikes painted in team colors seem to be long gone. Most pro athletes now have aero optimized race bikes and, depending on the terrain, may choose a second model. High-end pro team bikes are now modeled by computer programs and tested in wind tunnels, losing no more than a few crucial seconds between winning and losing. As a result, it is often big news when a star rider is spotted riding a prototype bike or a new model in the off-season.

On the other hand, Tadej Pogacar's new bike is no secret, and the Slovenian rider has been riding it on sight for a good part of the year. Our own Will Jones recently attended the official launch of the Colnago V4R and test rode it himself.

A Dutch website Wielerflits (opens in new tab) has uncovered photos and information of Mathieu Van der Poel riding what appears to be a Canyon prototype bike, or a new iteration of his current Aeroad model. discovered.

The photo of Van der Poel riding the mystery bike was briefly posted on Gianni Vermeerch's Instagram and Van der Poel's Strava activity, but appears to have since been removed.

We recently featured a Van der Poel training bike that hints at a 2023 race setup, but this new machine could be a sign that Canyon is preparing something new. The current Air Road will launch in 2020 and has scored some big wins along the way.

But the Air Road's existence has not been entirely without mishaps. In 2021, Canyon instructed all owners to temporarily stop using them after Van der Pol broke a handlebar in La Samyn, followed by a series of problems with seatpost clamps and broken seatposts.

It is highly likely that the as yet unnamed frame is a new version of the Air Road, and the frame is very similar to the Air Road.

There appears to be a change in the joint between the top tube and seat tube, and extra material can be seen in this area in the photos. The head tube is also slightly different, appearing slightly thinner, with some sort of aero profile at the bottom of the head tube. Also, the tires on this bike appear to be large capacity, at least 28 mm in size.

When we asked a Canyon representative, he replied, "It appears that the aero road is currently being produced in large quantities, so it is unlikely that this will change anytime soon." We will have to wait for the start of next year's race to see if this new bike will be available.