2020 will begin with a new name but an ongoing partnership for Canyon Bicycles. Alpecin-Fenix is the new name for the Belgian multi-discipline outfit run by visionary brothers Philip and Christoph Roodhooft and based around superstar Mathieu van der Poel, which will compete with a UCI Pro Continental license this season.
Mathieu van der Poel will lead Alpecin-Fenix across the board, competing in cyclocross, road racing and cross-country mountain bike racing. Mathieu van der Poel’s #1 objective for the 2020 season is the Gold Medal in the XCO bike race at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Roman Arnold, founder and managing director of Canyon Bicycles GmbH, explained “We are really pleased to continue our collaboration with Alpecin-Fenix as bike sponsor and partner. Since the beginning, we have believed in Philip and Christoph Roodhooft’s vision to create a multi-disciplinary team that can be competitive in more than one discipline. And having the incomparable Mathieu van der Poel racing Canyon Bicycles on and off road and in cyclocross is simply unbelievable. We’ve enjoyed an unbelievable number of wins in all categories with this team, so we can’t wait for the season to begin for Alpecin-Fenix!”
Besides van der Poel, Alpecin-Fenix will feature many other world-class cyclists in 2020 including cyclocross star Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and cross-country mountain bike riders Sam Gaze and Ronja Eibl. For road racing, prolific Italian sprinter Sascha Modolo will join Alpecin-Fenix for results in both the spring classics and the large tours. Belgian champion Tim Merlier is back for more wins in 2020 while Danish track specialist Lasse Norman Hansen is an emerging force in road racing. Alpecin-Fenix will include a solid German contingent, with Alexander Krieger joining the reigning German CX champion Marcel Meisen and experienced Philipp Walsleben (former U23 cyclocross world champion).
Team Alpecin-Fenix will race on road with the Canyon Aeroad, Ultimate and Speedmax. In mountain bike, the team can choose the Canyon Lux full-suspension race bike or the hardtail Canyon Exceed for cross-country events. The Canyon Inflite is the bike of choice for cyclocross and Canyon Grail for gravel racing.
Source: Canyon Bikes
