Mathieu van der Poel spotted on possible new Canyon
This time of year is rife with bike testing, as manufacturers send new models to team training camps to get some time out on the open road with star riders and get some honest feedback.
Mathieu van der Poel was photographed last week - in pictures uploaded by himself - riding a blacked out bike without branding, suggesting it is something new from Alpecin-Fenix's sponsors Canyon.
It could be a prototype bike, or possibly just a different version of the Aeroad model he currently uses.
The photos of Van der Poel on the bike appeared briefly on his teammate, Gianni Vermeersch's Instagram and in a Strava activity by Van der Poel but have since been removed.
The frame looks quite similar to the Aeroad, with a couple of tweaks.
Our friends at Cyclingnews reported that there appears to be a change in the frame at the junction of the top tube and seat tube area with the pictures showing some extra material in this area. The head tube also looks slightly different – appearing slightly thinner and having some sort of aero profiling at the bottom of the head tube. The tyres on the bike also look to be higher volume and at least a 28mm size than the ones Van der Poel would usually use on the road.
Canyon told WielerFlits that the frame is a prototype and "something we are working on".
Annemiek van Vleuten and Dylan van Baarle chosen as Dutch cyclists of the year
Annemiek van Vleuten and Dylan van Baarle were chosen as the cyclists of the year in the Netherlands on Monday.
Van Vleuten won the Giro d'Italia Donne, the Tour de France Femmes, the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta and the World Championships in a record-breaking year, and so was awarded the Keetie van Oosten-Hage Trophy for a fourth time.
Van Baarle, meanwhile, won Paris-Roubaix and came second at the Tour of Flanders, and so was given the Gerrit Schulte Trophy for the first time. His compatriot Mathieu van der Poel might have won Flanders and worn pink at the Giro d'Italia, but it was Van Baarle who won.
The awards were voted for by the Dutch Trade Union of Professional Cyclists (VVBW) and the public, who were allowed to vote via WielerFlits.
Jumbo-Visma release new kit
Jumbo-Visma has released its new 2023 kit, which is very similar to the old kit. It still is mainly yellow - shock - and has the black band with the sponsors across the middle.
The "roots to rise" jersey will be worn by both the men's and women's team, with only a small change in sponsors between the two.
The difference comes with the rainbow highlight either side of the black band, and the new sponsors, which are Bet City, SRAM and Lease a Bike for the men, and Elfi, and the same latter two for the women.
The kit has been designed to mark ten years of the Dutch team, which began as Blanco Pro Cycling Team in 2013 after the demise of Rabobank - the finance sponsors pulled out due to the prevalence of doping in cycling.
The team was then known as Belkin, before it became LottoNL-Jumbo, and then finally Jumbo-Visma.
"With this jersey, we pay tribute to what we have achieved together over the past ten years, and it is a starting point for further growth over the next ten years”, general manager Richard Plugge said in a statement.
"We built the team from the ground up to where we are today, with the Tour de France victory last summer being the absolute highlight. By wearing this jersey, we pay tribute to our history, but at the same time, we look forward to the future."
"We have had some wonderful moments in recent years. Think of winning our first grand tour with Primoz Roglic in 2019, the monumental victories, last year's Tour de France, the results of culture carriers like Robert Gesink and Steven Kruijswijk, and the development of talents like Olav Kooij."
“We pioneered new territory a few years ago with the launch of our training and women's teams. We started from scratch and completely redesigned the team. “We now have a solid foundation and will build on the future of the team and Dutch and international cycling."
As a result of it being a 10 year anniversary kit, anyone who buys the jersey before 6 January will received 10 artworks on cards which remember the team's greatest moments, from Lars Boom winning over the cobbles at the Tour de France in 2014 to Jonas Vingegaard winning the Tour de France last year.
Fans can also vote for their favourite moment for a chance to win a signed jersey.
Mark Cavendish spotted at Astana-Qazaqstan team camp
We all thought yesterday would be the day we finally were all told where Mark Cavendish would end up in 2023 - and that it would almost definitely be Astana-Qazaqstan.
However, it still hasn't happened, with speculation rumbling on, but today might be the day for it all to come out.
One thing that has happened, according to various sources, is that Cavendish, along with leadout man Cees Bol, have arrived at Astana's training camp in Calpe, Spain.
The record-breaking Tour de France sprinter was linked heavily with Astana since it terminated its contract with Miguel Ángel López last week, freeing up space on the team and funding to sign him.
It is the end of a saga which has seen Cavendish rumoured to be joining all sorts of teams after the collapse of the B&B Hotels squad, which were leading the race to sign him.
VeloNews reported on Tuesday morning that Cavendish and Bol were at the Astana camp, and other sources on social media have also suggested the same thing, including a very blurry photo which could be the former on a Willier bike.
🤔🇰🇿🤔🇰🇿🤔Mark Cavendish will probably go to Astana because he's riding Wilier's bike.🙆♀️🇪🇸🙆♀️🇪🇸🙆♀️ pic.twitter.com/f4AvhFpfPCDecember 19, 2022
Lotto-Dstny launch new kit
First we had Jumbo-Visma's, now we have Lotto-Dstny's kit for 2023. The artists formerly known as Lotto-Soudal have got rid of the big expanse of white on their kit and replaced it with the teal of Dstny, a Belgian software company.
The team is now a ProTeam, having been relegated from the WorldTour this year, but will still be at some of the biggest races in 2023, with riders like Caleb Ewan, Thomas de Gendt and Andreas Kron.
The same kit will also be worn by their women's Continental-level team, and their development team too.
In the launch video, narrated by Caleb Ewan, the fact they are all "real coureurs", riders, is repeated.
Ready to race as real coureurs in 2023 🔥How do you like our brand new Lotto Dstny kit? pic.twitter.com/uwDHW497Y6December 20, 2022
2023 Vuelta a España to start with TTT
