Valtteri Bottas spotted riding a mysterious bicycle - could it be yet unreleased Canyon road model?

Valtteri Bottas is a famous figure both within the ultra-fast world of formula racing as well the much more moderate-raced cycling multiverse. Bottas made a name for himself on gravel, where he's qualified to start the World Championships in October, but like every other pro, he also trains occasionally rolls out on a road special in his training.

Bottas is an ambassador for Canyon as well as SRAM. While he’s been spotted riding the current-generation Canyon Aeroad to his formula races he’s more often seen aboard the gravel-centric Canyon Grail than a road bike. And just before the Monaco Grand Prix, Bottas posted a photo of himself riding a never-seen before Canyon to the circuit.

Velo analyzed the few pictures they were able to acquire, noticing at the first sight that the bike is clearly a different paint color than the Aeroad he rode recently. The bike itself doesn’t look too different from the existing Canyon Aeroad aero road bike. The key difference seems to be the adoption of the Gear Groove, previously seen on the Canyon Grail, allowing rider to attach accessories such as bike computers.

Looking even more closely, there appear to be a few other slight differences between this and the existing Aeroad. There is a seemingly slimmer seat post that has a slight inward taper just ahead of the seat post’s saddle rail clamp. Could this mean that this bike ditches the fraught seat post design of the existing bike? It seems likely.