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The 2022 Giro Donne consists of 10 stages and the favourite to be wearing pink at the end of it is Annemiek Van Vleuten, the rider currently donning the maglia rosa. After tearing up the field and winning stage four, her team Movistar Canyon Aeroad has had some rather special changes, is this the bike that can take her all the way?
After winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes back in April, Van Vleuten had some quieter months by her own standards but still came into the Giro Donne as one of the favourites for the general classification.
A tidy sixth place in the opening time-trial proved the form was there but it wasn’t until stage four when Van Vleuten really got into her stride, decimating the field and taking the stage victory in a two-up sprint against Margarita Garcia. Ever since then, Van Vleuten has warded off the attacks from her rivals and looks on track to win the women’s Giro for her third time.
The bike of choice for the Movistar women’s team rider is the Canyon Aeroad CFR Disc. This is perhaps a surprising selection considering the hilly terrain of some of the stages as Canyon also makes the Ultimate. We’ve spotted a new version of the Ultimate, Canyon’s lightweight climbing bike, being ridden by some of Van Vleuten’s teammates and by the Movistar male team in the Tour de France.
> Movistar races new Canyon Ultimate
The Aeroad CFR is by no means heavy though, in fact, Canyon dub it as their lightest aero bike ever with a frame weight of just 915g for a size medium and a fork weight of 425g. We imagine that Van Vleuten’s is actually a little lighter than that as she rides a size XS.
> First ride: Canyon Aeroad CFR Di2
The bike features Canyon’s proprietary seat post and the CP0018 cockpit which keeps the cables out of the wind. Van Vleuten normally opts for just an 80mm stem length and typically uses 38cm bars, however, the CP0018 cockpit can be set to three positions: 37cm, 39cm or 41cm.
> Canyon appears to have fixed the 2021 Aeroad
The Movistar team is sponsored by Sram and hence uses their top-of-the-range groupset – Red Etap AXS HRD. This includes the in-house power meter which is the module that can be seen at the spindle end of the drive side crank. Van Vleuten has been using a 52/39T crankset upfront with what appears to be the 12-speed XG-1290 10/33T cassette at the rear although we’re sure a smaller cassette will have been used on the flatter stages.
> Review: Sram Red Etap AXS first ride
> Your complete guide to Sram’s road bike groupsets
Wheels also come from the Sram ecosystem in the form of the Zipp 202 NSW. We often see Van Vleuten using the slightly deeper 353 NSW or 303 Firecrest wheels but it would appear that weight was the priority for this stage hence using Zipps shallowest and lightest option. Mounted to the wheels are a set of Continental Competition tubular tyres.
The Movistar team uses Lizard Skins bar tape and bar plugs, this DSP V2 tape is commercially available in pink so if you really wanted then you could match!
For the saddle, Van Vleuten has gone for the Vento Argo 00 which has the brand’s ‘Mobius’ monorail designed to increase comfort. It also weighs just 139g in a 150mm size so is useful for trying to get the bike as close as possible to the 6.8kg UCI weight limit. Look Keo 2 Max Carbon pedals complete the build.
> Fizik reveals its lightest ever short-nosed saddle: Vento Argo 00
Van Vleuten has got a busy few months ahead of her, the Giro Donne finishes on the 10th of July and the Dutch rider is expected to race in the Tour de France Femmes that starts on the 24th. How many more races will we see her win on this Canyon Aeroad?
Are you a fan of Van Vleuten’s bike? Or would you rather have an Ultimate? Let us know in the comments below…
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