Mathieu van der Poel is no cycling Luddite, but the Classics rider and eight-time cyclo-cross World Champion refuses to follow the trend for narrow, aerodynamic handlebars and turned-in brake lever hoods.
"I just use the handlebars I've used all my life," the Alpecin-Premier Tech leader, whose bars stand out in the peloton due to their width and retro look, explained to Cyclingnews at Tirreno-Adriatico.
"They don't seem wider to me. I think they look wider because so many other riders have gone narrower."
Most riders use handlebars that are close to the new 400mm outside-to-outside minimum width enforced by the UCI, with a 10 degrees inward tilt and a minimum width of 280mm between the brake levers.
The UCI officials do not need to use their special measuring device on van der Poel's bike. His handlebars and levers are clearly legal.
According to Cyclingnews' contact at Canyon, he uses the CP0049 Pro Pace cockpit. This uses a modular system that enables a width adjustment, which the Canyon website states ranges from 350mm to 400mm (centre to centre at the hoods), via drops that can be detached from the central 'T Bar' stem.
However, Cyclingnews has measured Van der Poel's handlebars in the past at 420mm centre-to-centre, seen here on his custom Canyon Aeroad at the Tour de France, suggesting he may be running a custom-made, wider variant of this already pro-focused component.
In the pits at Tirreno-Adriatico, a helpful Alpecin-Premier Tech team mechanic grabbed his tape measure to confirm the current width of Van der Poel's handlebars for Cyclingnews, confirming a measurement of 450mm outside-to-outside. This is paired with almost no lever turn-in.
In contrast, teammate and team sprinter Jasper Philipsen uses bars that measure 410mm.
As a result of his steadfastness, Van der Poel likely has a slightly worse aerodynamic position on the bike and so needs a few more watts compared to his rivals, but that does not seem to be a problem for him.
Van der Poel attacked on the gravel stage of Tirreno-Adriatico on Tuesday and won the sprint to the line, beating Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). He then won the sprint on stage 4 on Thursday against rival Wout van Aert and the eternally aero Filippo Ganna.
"Maybe I lose a little bit of aerodynamic advantage, but I like to have the power when I stand on the pedals," he told Cyclingnews.
"I'm used to the size, and so for now I'm sticking to wide bars."
