The Belgian Silence-Lotto team have announced that Canyon will replace Ridley as their bike sponsor for 2009.
Canyon is an internet-based German brand with a reputation for stiff carbon frames and attractively priced complete bike builds. The team, which includes Tour de France runner up Cadel Evans and new signing, classics star Philippe Gilbert, will be riding the Canyon SLX road and Speedmax CF time trial frames. As compared to Canyon’s current Ultimate CF flagship, the new SLX version reportedly shaves 100g on the frame alone and is also fitted with a lighter SLX-version carbon fork that tapers from 1 1/4” at the stem to a 1 1/2” at the crown.
Silence-Lotto is once again aiming at trying to win the Tour de France next year. "To accomplish this mission we were looking for the bike supplier with the best total package," said team manager Geert Coeman. "We had several technical demands for our future bike supplier. With the Ultimate in the super light SLX version and the new time trial machine Speedmax CF, we have found bikes fulfilling our needs."