Another as-of-yet unreleased gravel race bike claims the rainbow bands
(Image credit: Thomas Maheux/SWpix.com)
Kasia Niewiadoma took victory in what was her first-ever gravel race on Saturday at the UCI Gravel World Championships. The Polish rider left the rest of the field behind and arrived at the finish with a 33-second lead over Silvia Persico and Demi Vollering after nearly five hours of racing in Northern Italy.
The decision to not televise the Women's World Championship race drew criticism in the days leading up to the race although some short highlights were later shown.
Like the men's race winner Matej Mohorič, Niewiadoma took the UCI World Title aboard an as-of-yet unreleased bike. This time however it was a model from Canyon, not Merida. We also saw this same prototype bike at Unbound earlier in the year, with Carolin Schiff winning the women's race.
We are still in the dark about the official title of the new Canyon gravel machine. (Image credit: Thomas Maheux/SWpix.com)
Though as mentioned, we don't know what this Canyon bike is just yet. We speculated after Unbound it could possibly be an updated version of the Canyon Grail. It's safe to say it isn't a new Inflite, which got an update and top flight CFR status in late September.
This new frame appears to have mounting points under the top tube and a seatpost that doesn't look like anything currently featured on Canyon gravel bikes. An Ergon saddle was mounted atop the seatpost.
Niewiadoma used a Sram-based build, with wheels from Zipp and road pedals by Time (Sram owns Zipp and Time). Time pedals are also generally some of the lightest on the market.
Wheel and tyres wise Niewiadoma used Zipp 303 S wheels fitted with tubeless Schwalbe G One RS tyres, which feature a slick centre section. Schwalbe claims the G One RS tyres have the lowest rolling resistance in the G One range and are suited to tarmac and dry conditions. Niewiadoma possibly gambled slightly with tyre choice, going for speed over extra grip or puncture resistance but it certainly looks to have paid off for her. We also discussed tyre options in our Gravel Worlds tech feature if you want to read more.
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A mixed Sram transmission was fitted to the bike. A Sram Red 1x chainset and Quarq power meter with a small chain catcher were fitted up front. Whilst the rear derailleur and $700 10-52T T-type cassette were from the fairly new XX SL Eagle MTB range. The XX Eagle SL derailleur uses a hangerless interface and carbon fibre cage to drop weight, and a lower jockey wheel that won't jam or stick if a piece of debris enters it, a nice piece of insurance given the event.
Lucky number 7. Niewiadoma's bike also had the Canyon handlebar we saw earlier in the year with a negative slope downward from the stem clamping point (Image credit: Thomas Maheux/SWpix.com)
The Sram Eagle XX SL rear derailleur uses a hangerless interface. This rear derailleur and cassette combo will set you back $1420! (Image credit: Thomas Maheux/SWpix.com)
Niewiadoma used a Sram 1x transmission and looked to be running her race transponder on the drive side chainstay (Image credit: Thomas Maheux/SWpix.com)
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Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.
