Annemiek van Vleuten's bike: What is the world champion riding in 2023?

Annemiek van Vleuten's palmares is too long and varied to do justice in an introductory paragraph. She is one of the most decorated cyclists out there, having won (to pick a handful of results), the Tour de France Femmes, The Giro d'Italia Donne three times, gold and silver at the Tokyo Olympics, Strade Bianche twice, Flanders twice, Liege twice... getting the picture yet?

Van Vleuten has also graced the top step of the podium at the World Championships too, twice in the time trial, and twice on the road. As such she gets treated to a one-of-a-kind, world champions edition paint job for her 2023 race bike. Most riders dream of having just one of those in a career, so to have now had four is pretty spectacular - We wonder if the fourth is still just as special? Luckily for you, we've got a gallery of it from Opening Weekend so you can, to some extent, see for yourselves.

What is Annemiek van Vleuten's bike for 2023?

Van Vleuten opts to use the Canyon Aeroad, rather than the latest generation Canyon Ultimate. It's still the more aerodynamic of the two bikes, despite the latest Ultimate definitely closing the gap. As per the rest of the Movistar team, she's running Sram Red and Zipp wheels. In this case, they are the 303 Firecrest set, but they will likely swap depending on the course.

The primary talking point over and above the rest of the team bikes is the custom paint job. The black base coat is a satisfying counterpoint to the all-white look of Remco Evenepoel's bike, the other rainbow set up on the road this year.

It's a very simple paint job, consisting of rainbow bands wrapping the headtube and extending at an angle along the top tube. No glitter as we saw on Elisa Balsamo's rainbow bike, just gloss colours, perhaps in an effort to balance the need to honour the jersey and please the sponsors, but also not add too much additional weight to the frame.

What size is Annemiek van Vleuten's bike

Van Vleuten stands at 5ft 6in tall, and while we didn't spot any frame size stickers on her bike at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, we know from past experience that she rides an XS in Canyon sizing (53cm top tube). Her saddle is bang-smack in the middle of the rails, and her stem is neither crazy short nor extremely long.

We didn't get a measure on the stem, but it appears to be 90mm. While some riders favour a position more over the front of the bike (Cecile Uttrup-Ludwig's bike is a prime example of this), van Vleuten clearly sticks to a more neutral position.

Annemiek van Vleuten's Canyon Aeroad CFR: Specifications

Van Vleuten's Canyon Aeroad CFR is the top-of-the-range, 'Canyon Factory Racing' model of the brand's aero road bike. The main event is the paint in this case, but it's a relatively simple motif. Just a big set of stripes wrapping the front end of the bike and the top tube, and gloss black everywhere else. There are no references to the date of her victory, or any slogans, just a simple name on the rear of the top tube... in case you forgot.

The drivetrain is completely taken care of by Sram, in the form of the top-of-the-line Red AXS groupset. The cranks have an integrated power meter that is bonded to the 52/39 chainrings, as it is on the new Sram Force groupset. Her cranks are 170mm, which is perhaps a little longer than you'd expect for a rider on an XS frame.

At the back, a 10-33 cassette provides ample gear range, and to add a bit of extra shifting utility Van Vleuten has a pair of wireless shifting blips affixed under the tops of her bars, close to the stem.

Her bars are wrapped in tacky Lizardskins bar tape, and out front, a Canyon computer mount holds her cycling computer. Interestingly she hasn't opted for the ultralight, 17g version that comes with the new Canyon Ultimate.

The wheels are Zipp 303 Firecrest, mounted up with Continental GP5000 S TR tyres and set up tubeless. The team is sponsored by Blub lubricants, who also make sealant, and so despite not being able to see inside the tyres, we can at least assume this is what's taking care of puncture resistance.

Atop the proprietary, aero seatpost appears to be a new model of the Fizik Argo. It's the same model as seen on the LAB71 spec of the new Cannondale SuperSix Evo, which lists it as the 'Fizik Argo 00 Carbon', but it is yet to appear on the Fizik website. As mentioned above, it's not slammed either forward or backwards on the carbon rails.

Another curious point of interest is her decision to opt for the second-tier Look Keo 2 Max pedals, rather than the top-of-the-range Keo Blade. We can only assume she prefers the feel of these, or find them easier to clip in and out of. The bottle cages too are noteworthy; the Rocko model opens out further towards the base of the cage, meaning it's likely easier to grab a bottle from inside the limited real estate of the XS frame.

Finally, it's always interesting to see how race timing chips are affixed. Here it's quite a long section of butyl inner tube but mounted higher up than we usually see. This may put it in the dirtier air created by the rim. We have seen other pros opting to put it on the inside on occasion, presumably also for aero benefits or crash protection.

History

Annemiek van Vleuten has been professional since 2007 and has ridden for approximately 11 teams (some with the odd sponsor change, but essentially the same team). This is a lot of bikes, but we've done the leg work for you so you can nerd out on what she was riding and when.

Annemiek van Vleuten's 2022 yellow Canyon Aeroad

Riding into Paris on the final stage of the Tour de France Femmes is entirely deserving of a special edition bike. Other than the paint it's essentially identical to her 2023 race bike, though the coats of yellow paint on the frame, wheels and other bits meant she tried very hard not to ride it; the paint is heavy. She swapped bikes four times, primarily due to the lower weight of her usual team race bike.

Annemiek van Vleuten's 2020 Scott Addict

As we've alluded to earlier, Van Vleuten hasn't been short of special rainbow bikes. Here we can see her 2020 World Champion's bike, a very different arrangement to her current setup. The Scott Addict is more of a compact, lightweight climbing bike, and is kitted out with a full suite of Shimano Dura-Ace components, including the wheels, which are shod with Pirelli tyres.

The special edition paint job here was much more out there, with heavy rainbow flake in the base coat and iridescent Scott logos. Everyone around definitely needs sunglasses on.

Annemiek van Vleuten's 2019 pink Scott Foil

Winning the Tour gets you a yellow bike, while the Giro gets you a pink one. In 2019 Van Vleuten was treated to a Scott Foil with a smattering of pink touches; mostly just the frame logos and bar tape in this case. The build is similar to her 2020 Scott Addict in that it's essentially a complete Shimano Dura-Ace build including the wheels and Pirelli rubber.