When I attended the launch of the new Canyon Ultimate in the summer, I casually asked what was next in the pipeline. The answer was a bit naughty: "Probably something for cyclocross, but I don't know yet. Given the possibility of a new airload already in the works, it seems unlikely that there will be more than one new Canyon model this year.

The X20 Trophy doesn't have the prestige of the World Cup or the Super Prestige Series. At least, it would be if Van Art did not win this round, as Van der Pol did after suffering a flat tire in the closing stages. As with many CX victories, the win is noteworthy in itself, but the fact that he appears to be riding a new version of InFlight made headlines. Let's explore what we can glean from the race footage and photos.

The current version of In-Flight has external cables. The bars are integrated, but the hoses exit in front of the stem section and reenter the frameset near the base of the head tube and at the top of the fork shoulders. However, no hoses were visible on the bike Van der Pol was riding in Herentals. This appears to be a cockpit now shared between the Ultimate and Air Road models, bringing another complementary design language to the road and gravel lineups.

This is suggested by the fact that the bar is more aero than the commercial in-flight models, the current H31 ergo cockpit, and now the CP0018.

The cables are fully integrated, so the holes in the upper shoulders are not needed. No blanks or bungs are found, so at least this is a new pair for this model. The shape is extremely similar (identical?) to the Ultimate forks. Whether it is the same fork or a slightly enhanced version remains to be seen, but given that Van der Pol rode the Ultimate in the gravel world, it is not unlikely that it is the same fork.

In other respects, the frameset is similar to the current model, but the design is definitely closer to the Ultimate. The kinks remain, but are less pronounced, making the bike more easily shouldered and adding some compliance with a more extended seatpost. [The down tube to head tube junction is very similar to the Ultimate. The angle between the rear seatstays and dropouts is also slightly more open. If this effectively shortens the seatstays, which may have compliance implications, it may be that the junction with the seat tube has changed. In any case, the seatstay angle is important to Canyon in the design of the Ultimate, and the kink in the rear dropout is probably left so that the seatstays are at the same angle as the down tube.