Some may call it boring, predictable, even inevitable, but there is no denying that Mathieu van der Poel’s performance at Paris-Roubaix 2024 was impressive. To ride Mads Pedersen from his wheel on the Arenberg Forest is a feat that not many – if any – others can claim.
And dominant as his performance was, you don’t win Roubaix without an excellent team of mechanics, a well-marked bike, and a big stroke of luck.
While team-mate Jasper Philipsen – who finished an equally impressive 2nd – suffered an untimely puncture shortly after in the Arenberg forest, Van der Poel had no such misfortune.
His Canyon Aeroad CFR, which received its fair share of criticism during its tenure as Van der Poel’s race bike, saw him flawlessly through 259km of the North’s finest terrain France between Compiegne and Roubaix, complete with 55 km of cobbled terrain.
His Vittoria Corsa Pro tires, sized 32c and pumped up to 3.46 bars (50 PSI), also performed well. Save for a momentary chain drop, his Shimano Dura-Ace groupset barely missed a beat.
As with Lotte Kopecky’s bike yesterday, I put in the hard graft (that is, soft-talk the ASO for behind-the-scenes access) and managed to get a handful of close-up photos with the bike of the Champion of the world. We dive in for a bike check.
Check out all the best Roubaix technology from the men’s race in our Premium Tech Gallery .
His bike was fitted with Shimano’s 50mm deep Dura-Ace wheels (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
They were shod with Vittoria Corsa Pro tires, set up tubeless, with a foam insert inside. Find extra rim stickers for Roubaix (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The tires were 32c wide. Watch the video below to see the mechanic preparing them for the race. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
A few minutes after Van der Poel crossed the line, the UCI and their beige chinos were quick to tag along. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
All podium bikes will be tested for mechanical doping. The label will not be removed until the test has been completed. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Being a Shimano sponsored rider, Van der Poel was running a 2X chain, with 54/40T chainrings. We do not expect the internal chain to be used at all. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
It was paired with an 11-30 cassette (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Uses 172.5mm cranks (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
His painting of the World Champion is subtle, but classy. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Unlike Kopecky yesterday, Van der Poel didn’t tilt his shifters at all, that’s just the natural curve of the Dura-Ace shifters. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
While the entirety of Soudal-QuickStep used round handlebars this year, Van der Poel used a one-piece aero cockpit. Technically it can’t do anything other than that, as the Aeroad uses a proprietary quill-style earpiece. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The 3D printed computer stand is also a nice touch (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Shortly after my time with the bike, I was bumped by this stern looking man. Mathieu then rode it to the famous duchess of Roubaix, before heading to the press room for his press conference. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
After the race, Van der Poel rode his Canyon in the famous Roubaix showers (Image credit: Will Jones)
The bike was hastily propped up against a wall while the champion hopped in the shower, there was some splash of mud from the cobbles but the bike was relatively clean. (Image credit: Will Jones)
World Champ rainbow strips and Roubaix mud splatter, not a bad combination really (Image credit: Will Jones)
We learned in the press conference Van der Poel drove the first 100 km with “skinnier” tires (we assume 28) to save energy. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Will this bike go to a museum, continue to be raced or will it go home with Van der Poel? However, he made history today (Image credit: Will Jones)
