Mathieu Van der Poel’s use of prototype Shimano Dura-Ace groupset gives away more detail about its design

Mathieu Van der Poel rode the Montreal Road Worlds circuit yesterday using the new Dura-Ace R9300 groupset, or at least elements of it.

After months of rumours, a new Dura-Ace groupset finally surfaced at the Vuelta a España last month. More than one of the Alpecin-Premier Tech team’s Canyon Aeroad CFR bikes were fitted with the new equipment.

Not much else has been seen of the new groupset since the Vuelta, but Van der Poel himself seems to be testing it publicly now. The Dutchman used it to take two stage wins at the recent Tour de Luxembourg, including his incredible 174-kilometre solo breakaway.

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Riders took to the Montreal Worlds circuit yesterday to complete training laps, and photos from the recon time showed Van der Poel riding his Canyon Aeroad with at least the new unreleased shifters fitted to his bike.

We wouldn’t be completely surprised if more than one rider’s bike is fitted with the new equipment for the weekend’s races. Dura-Ace is a groupset designed for racing, and testing it in anger will likely be useful during what we can only assume are its final phases of development before a launch next year.

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If you are watching online, the easiest way to tell the shifters apart currently is the lack of any Dura-Ace logos and the more prominent inside shifter buttons.

Van der Poel’s bike was fitted with at least the new shifters yesterday (Image credit: JASPER JACOBS / Contributor)

Van der Poel also reportedly played a key role in developing the new Dura-Ace wheels, which launched in July. Shimano followed these up with a new pedal, shoe and cleat launch last week, which included the new R9300 Dura-Ace pedals that were first spotted way back in April at Paris-Roubaix.

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Whilst we don’t have any official information, Van der Poel’s testing likely creates useful feedback to help refine the groupset, which seems to still be in a testing phase. Don’t be surprised if one or two things change before its official launch.

But importantly, Van der Poel used only elements of the groupset at his last race appearance, which perhaps indicates that a complete groupset, which we know will be 13-speed, isn’t ready to roll out just yet.

Van der Poel used the new derailleur with existing chainset at the Tour de Luxembourg. (Image credit: Luc Claessen / Stringer)

Notably, the Dutchman wasn’t using the chainset; the component that drew the most criticism online from Shimano fans.

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At the Tour de Luxembourg, he raced on a bike fitted with the new Dura-Ace shifters, which have the new ‘bonus button’ shifters on the inside of each brake hood, and the new Dura-Ace rear mech, which looks like it’s going to remain a wired electronic unit.

But he didn’t use the prototype crankset we saw at the Vuelta. The new unit seemed to leave fans underwhelmed online due to its aesthetics; the hollow forged chainrings weren’t in use, and the connection between the crank arm and the rings seemed unfinished.

As we speculated in that first story, this adds weight to the theory that the new chainset could still be in development, with further revisions coming.

Unsurprisingly, when asked, Shimano declined to divulge any specific information on Van der Poel’s recent usage, saying “Shimano is constantly developing new products, but does not comment on rumours, speculation, or unannounced products.”

Van der Poel has played down his chances of taking a second World Road Race title on Sunday, but he’s a rider who will always give 100%. A win on Sunday won’t tell us much about Shimano’s new equipment, but his decision to use it at all suggests we’re edging ever closer to its launch.