Mathieu Van Der Poel Signs Unprecedented 10 Year Contract with Canyon
Photo: CANYON-ERTZUI
Mathieu van der Poel has signed the longest-known contract in modern-day cycling with Canyon Bicycles. The current Road and Cyclocross World Champion went to Canyon’s headquarters in Koblenz, Germany on Monday, March 18, 2024 to sign a ten-year contract, meeting with Canyon CEO Nicholas de Ros Wallace, as well as the CEO of reference shareholder GBL, Ian Gallienne, among others.
He has a phenomenal track record on Canyon bikes so far, with 163 victories in Road, Cyclocross and Mountain Biking since late 2017, when his partnership with Canyon started. He extended that contract by four years in 2021.
 | Canyon has been an incredible partner. We have developed bikes that have helped me succeed in Classics, World Championships and Grand Tours. But I’m still incredibly hungry for success. There are several milestones on my radar, including the Paris Olympics this summer. In Road, Cyclocross and Mountain biking, Canyon’s R&D teams devote everything to creating bikes to win races, and I'm proud to fuel those product developments. We share the same winning mentality and, with this new contract, we're fully aligned on our ambitions for the next stage of my career |
| At the heart of the collaboration is a collective desire to continually push boundaries and elevate performance. Mathieu’s quest for the best is a true inspiration to our engineers and product development teams. |
Photo: CANYON-ERTZUI
Roman Arnold and GBL, as co-owners of the company, are aligned on this long-term view. In a separate deal, Canyon extended its terms with Alpecin-Deceuninck, continuing the winning relationship with the team that started in late-2017.
| Since we signed with Canyon we have had a long-term vision to create the first-ever multi-disciplinary team, built with the best and most talented riders of their generation. That is only achievable with the support of partners who build world-class high-performance products and share the same hunger for victory. Our new contract with Canyon is a significant milestone in the future development of all the talented riders who join Alpecin-Deceuninck and Fenix-Deceuninck riders. |
Mathieu will next be in action at the Belgian classics E3 and Gent-Wevelgem followed by the Spring monuments, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Amstel Gold and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. While MVDP has stated that he wants to compete in the mountain bike event at the Paris Olympics this year, we do not yet know if he will secure the coveted spot on the Dutch team.
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Truth is the guy's results in mountain biking alone are outstanding, and 95% of the mountain bike pro's would kill for his track record. And about his presumed lack of skills, MvdP has far, far better skills than he is credited for.
He is going to keep using his Canyon DH bike for the season, so neither that theory nor the one where he is unhappy with the bike is true.
There was a French news site with an interview and he said something along the lines of "it was for reasons of laws within the contract"... I'm not good at translating French through German to English
Really?
I think we've learnt that the powers that be will pull whatever strings necessary for van der poel
I still don't see how they consider him so marketable after what happened last year. In particular compared to their jewel who hit the ground running in the ladies CX and MTB field.
Puck was much more exciting last year.
@mwglow : Yeah admitted I don't really watch road and CX (though I do watch pumptrack racing which is tarmac too). But it is about the riding, isn't it, not just the results. Is there anything cool in the way he rides in CX and road, like the way hits corners or jumps CX obstacles where others get off to carry their bikes? Honest question as I indeed haven't watched those races.
This year in CX was pretty otherworldly though. There were quite a few races where he was the only person riding multiple obstacles, or it was him and Wout van Aert riding them while everyone else dismounted. His ability to do nearly sprint level surges what seemed like 20-30 times per race blew me away.
1. He rocked up at the Worlds without preparing for the event through competing at the regular WC races. To me it feels as a bit arrogant towards other athletes who worked really hard to be able to compete there and do well. Being able to stand at the start line is the result of dedication and hard work. It is a race, but it is also a celebration of how far they got. At least that's how I see it. So to party crash the event unprepared comes off as a bit rude. Especially if you can't convince that you're really up to it.
2. If you're somehow given something unfairly in class which you're buddies aren't getting, you've got two choices. Take it and use it to your advantage but also accept that you'll mess up your cred against your buddies. Or refuse, don't have the advantage but have the level playing field. Loads of athletes and team managers objected against the last minute UCI rule change (regarding the Worlds' start order) but the UCI simply didn't respond. MvdP was in the position to refuse the advantage he was given but instead took it. He could have thrown the big middle finger against the UCI for a rule change that was considered unfair by pretty much everyone, yet he just ran with it.
Don't get me wrong, I won't blast anyone for crashing out or not getting the best results despite preparing at least as well as their competitors in the sport. I don't think I have ever blasted him for crashing at the Olympics because I think he was actually preparing well for the race (and I do think he can jump too) nor do I think I have ever blasted him for chasing those teens when he got stressed and tired in that hotel. Not saying it is perfect and all but these are things that can go wrong in a moment when you're not sharp. I think for me it is primarily how he signed up for the MTB Worlds without proper preparation in the sport and how he ran off with an advantage that was given to him unfairly. I also understand that sports mean different things to different people. To some it is about winning races. I think for me fairness and respect are more important (and race results not so much, probably).
Anyway, thanks for the chat. It is bedtime for me now so I'll call it a day. I definitely understand your view and hopefully I have also clarified mine.
This is probably part of how he does it. He‘s got legs, heart, lungs, AND skill.
I thought a certain Trek rider had a "lifetime contract" with them, but for some reason Trek ended it.
"10 year" contract is mostly marketing.
What do adolescents and Canyon not have in common? Only the adolescents get their asses handed to them.
I think he became a part-owner of Canyon (we can only speculate how many % of the shares) and they took the opportunity to announce a "10 year" deal as a marketing stunt.
Either way, good move from Canyon.