Van der Poel is already riding components from the next Shimano Dura-Ace ahead of the World Championships

The upcoming Shimano Dura-Ace continues to accumulate kilometers in competition, and now it does so on one of the most important bikes of the Montreal World Championship. Mathieu van der Poel has been seen scouting the circuit with his Canyon Aeroad CFR equipped with components from the new Shimano road group, a prototype that seems to belong to the future Shimano Dura-Ace R9300 Di2 13-speed generation.

Van der Poel rides the new Shimano Dura-Ace levers before the World Championship

The images taken during the reconnaissance of the World Championship circuit show Van der Poel on his usual Canyon Aeroad CFR, but there is one detail that particularly stands out in the cockpit. The Dutchman is using the new Dura-Ace levers that Shimano has not yet officially presented.

They are easily recognizable because they still lack the usual Dura-Ace logos and, above all, because of the new button located on the inside of each lever, which is much more prominent than the auxiliary button of the current generation.

This is not the first time we have seen this material. The new Shimano Dura-Ace 13-speed first appeared in competition during La Vuelta 2026, installed on several Canyon Aeroad CFR bikes from Alpecin-Premier Tech. Those bikes allowed us to discover many of the innovations that Shimano is testing: a 13-speed cassette, new levers, a revised rear derailleur, and a new crankset and power meter.

He already won with this material in Luxembourg

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In fact, the Dutchman did not wait for the World Championship to compete with some of these components. During the recent Tour de Luxembourg, where he achieved two stage victories and wrapped up his preparation for Montreal with a spectacular 174-kilometer breakaway, his Canyon was already equipped with parts from the new Dura-Ace.

On that bike, the new levers and the new rear derailleur could be identified, although Shimano was still mixing prototype components with others from the current generation.

Especially significant was the crankset. Van der Poel did not use the new crankset we had seen in La Vuelta, but a different set. This reinforces the idea that Shimano continues to test different configurations and that not all elements of the future group are necessarily at the same stage of development.

It also seems to maintain, at least in the prototypes seen so far, the semi-wireless Di2 architecture, with the rear derailleur connected by cable to the internal battery.

We just have to wait until Sunday to see if the future Shimano Dura-Ace 13-speed will compete in the World Championship on the Canyon Aeroad CFR of one of the big names in the race. Until then, you can read Van der Poel's preview of the race, including his favorites, and here you can see all the schedules for the remainder of the World Championship.