World champions and influencers among Canyon sponsored riders for 2024

Van der Poel and Niewiadoma sit alongside non-cycling stars like Valtteri Bottas and Manuel Neuer in German brand's multi-discipline stable of athletes

16:45, Monday 29th January 2024

Patrick Fletcher

Deputy Editor

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Gravel world champion Kasia Niewadoma in her rainbow jersey with her Canyon Grail CFR

Canyon has unveiled the lion’s share of its roster of sponsored riders for 2024, with the German bike brand boasting 13 world champions across various disciplines, along with a growing contingent of ‘influencers’ from outside the cycling bubble.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), the men’s road race and cyclo-cross world champion, and Chloe Dygert (Canyon-SRAM), who claimed rainbow jerseys on both the road and the track, headline Canyon's list of equipped riders, alongside Kasia Niewiadoma (also Canyon-SRAM), whose gravel world title adds lustre to Canyon’s existing stable of gravel privateers.

Canyon produces a range of bikes across road, track, gravel, mountain bike, and triathlon, sponsoring a number of teams, national federations, and individual athletes. It has a heavy involvement in mountain biking but has yet to confirm its precise MTB line-up for 2024, instead unveiling its commitments across the other disciplines on Monday.

“The power of sport to inspire is phenomenal. Performance is deep within the DNA of the company and is integral to the way we design and test our bikes,” said Canyon’s Global Director of Pro Sports, Andreas Walzer.

“With 13 world champions riding for Canyon in 2024, we want to continue to work with the best and most inspiring athletes in the world for two reasons – their quest for excellence inspires us to find every innovation possible in the pursuit of victory, and their performances provide inspiration for fans of cycling all around the world.”

On the road, Canyon continues to supply five WorldTour teams, including Van der Poel’s Alpecin-Deceuninck, Dygert and Niewiadoma’s Canyon-SRAM, Puck Pieterse’s Fenix-Deceuninck, and both the Movistar men’s and women’s squads. All teams will use the Canyon Ultimate all-round race bike, the dedicated aerodynamic Aeroad, and the Speedmax time trial frame.

Canyon had been set to lose one of the greatest riders of all time in Annemiek van Vleuten, but the Dutchwoman has signed up for an ambassadorial role for the company as she heads into retirement.

Away from the WorldTour, Canyon will also sponsor lower-level squads including Miami Blazers, Tekkerz, RAD Race, and GRLPCK.

On the track, Canyon will continue to supply the USA and Denmark national federations in the year of the Olympic Games in Paris, with riders to use the Speedmax CFR Track that was launched at last year’s Worlds with a price tag of €20,000.

In the world of gravel, Niewiadoma will rock the rainbow stripes after her storming victory in the second UCI Worlds last autumn, although she’ll race a limited gravel calendar due to her road commitments. Likewise, 2022 men’s world champion Gianni Vermeersch and Tiffany Cromwell will be among the WorldTour pros who’ll dabble in off-road racing in 2024.

But while a number of star names cross the divide between the disciplines, Canyon’s traditional gravel ambitions revolve around the GRVL CLLCTV, which features nine riders for 2024. Peter Stetina has been a pioneer of the privateer scene in recent years, while Carolin Schiff won Unbound 2023 on a Canyon, and they’re joined by Maghalie Rochette, Petr Vakoč, Andrew Jackson, Jasper Ockeloen, Griffin Easter, Jeremiah Bishop, and Jade Treffeisen.

The main weapon of choice will be the new Canyon Grail CFR launched late last year, while some events may call for the more rugged Grizl. On that front, Canyon will be represented in the wider world of multi-day adventure riding by two-time Silk Road Mountain Race winner Jenny Tough, along with Vedangi Kalkarni, Emily Chappell, Liam Yates, and Tyler Pearce.

In triathlon, 2023 world champion Sam Laidlow leads the line alongside 2022 world champ Chelsea Sodaro, and the likes of Florian Angert, Daniel Baekkegard, Tim Hellwig, Annika Koch, Patrick Lange, Mika Noodt, Laura Philipp, Sara Perez Sala, Imogen Simmonds, Lionel Sanders, Kyle Smith, and Hayden Wilde.

Canyon has also looked for ambassadors beyond the world of cycling, drawing on a number of cycling enthusiasts from other sports to showcase its products to a wider audience. The most well-known to cycling fans will be the F1 driver Valtteri Bottas, partner of Tiffany Cromwell, who created the FNLD GRVL race and has raced at a decent level himself.

The most well-known globally is the German footballer Manuel Neuer, who has been one of the world’s best goalkeepers over the past 15 years. Joining the pair are surfer Johanne Defay, motorcyclist Jorge Martin, and wakeboarder Dominik Guehrs.

These stars will be using their bikes, according to the brand, “to support their primary sporting careers and inspire fans of adjacent sports to give cycling a try”.