Jasper Philipsen’s Tour de France went from ecstasy, when he claimed the yellow jersey on stage 1, to agony when he crashed out having been brought down in the intermediate sprint on stage 3.
For his brief Tour appearance, Philipsen was riding the Canyon Aeroad CFR with a custom 'MyCanyon' design, which turned yellow for stage 2.
His team leader/lead-out man, Mathieu van der Poel’s white Canyon Aeroad CFR also intermittently turned yellow as he swapped leadership with Tadej Pogačar over the remainder of the first week, before himself abandoning the race on the second rest day.
The CFR is Canyon’s top-spec Aeroad frameset – CFR signifies Canyon Factory Racing – sitting above the CF SLX.
At 7.89kg, Philipsen’s size-M Aeroad was surprisingly heavy in its full race trim – given off-the-peg builds are claimed to weigh around 7kg. However, we suspect the sprinter-friendly wheels and tyres weren't helping in this regard.
Narrow bar but no flare
The Aeroad has Canyon’s Performance Adaptive Cockpit Ecosystem (or PACE bar, for short), which enables you to widen or narrow the cockpit via two Torx bolts that hold the drops in place. Philipsen kept the Classic drops though, rather than swapping to the Aero drops, which are narrower at the tops and flare to the drops.
Flared handlebars are now a feature of many pro bikes, providing a narrower, more aero position when riding on the tops, but still offering control when in the drops.
Philipsen had his drops pushed in to their full extent, though, giving him a narrow, 360mm width across the tops, which he paired with a 120mm stem length. He also had the same, pro-only -17 degree stem angle as on Mathieu van der Poel's Aeroad, offering a lower and more aggressive position than on stock bikes.
Philipsen used Canyon’s 3D-printed Forward AM computer mount, which has a claimed weight of only 17g.
Standard 54/40t chainrings
Alpecin-Deceuninck run Shimano Dura-Ace groupsets with a Dura-Ace power meter. Unusually for a sprinter, Philipsen’s crankset for the Tour was fitted with 54/40t chainrings. We saw several riders, including Soudal Quick–Step sprinter Tim Merlier, using larger, 56/44t chainrings – which can offer a straighter chainline, as well as a potentially higher top gear for fast finishes.
Philipsen paired his crankset to an 11-34t Dura-Ace cassette ahead of the Grand Départ in Lille. He was also using a waxed chain.
Dura-Ace wheelset
While many teams pair Dura-Ace groupsets to wheels from other brands, Philipsen’s all Dura-Ace setup extended to his Dura-Ace C60 wheelset. With a claimed weight of 1,609g, they’re not the lightest deep-section wheels, although Shimano claims extra stiffness from its thicker spokes.
His wheels were completed with Pirelli P Zero Race TLR TS tyres in a 30mm width, while Philipsen had a pair of Elite Custom Race X composite bottle cages, rather than lighter carbon cages.
While we've seen many pros on 3D-printed saddles, Philipsen chose a more traditional Selle Italia SLR Boost Kit Cabonio Superflow, with a foam top with Selle Italia's signature cut-out.
Specs | Jasper Philipsen’s Canyon Aeroad CFR for the 2025 Tour de France
- Frameset: Canyon Aeroad CFR
- Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace with 11-34t cassette
- Wheelset: Shimano Dura-Ace C60
- Power meter: Shimano Dura-Ace, 54/40t
- Tyres: Pirelli P Zero Race TLR RS, 30mm
- Handlebar: Canyon CP0048 CF
- Seatpost: Canyon SP0077
- Saddle: Selle Italia SLR Boost Kit Cabonio Superflow
- Bottle cages: Elite Custom Race X
- Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace
- Weight: 7.89kg
