CANYON PRESENT SPECIAL-EDITION ULTIMATE CF SLX TDF FOR 108TH TOUR DE FRANCE

KOBLENZ, 28 JUNE 2021 | EMBARGO UNTIL WEDNESDAY, 30 JUNE 2021, 11 AM (CEST) — The Tour de France is the most important race in cycling, the world’s biggest annual sporting event, and the grandest of the Grand Tours. Three glorious, dramatic weeks where heroes can be born, new talents can steal the limelight, and icons can fall. And just in time for the 108th running of le Grande Boucle, Canyon are proud to present a special limited-edition model to celebrate the world’s greatest bike race. Built around a world-class frame that’s already won three Grand Tours and two World Championships – and is now adorned with a unique one-off colourway – this is the Ultimate CF SLX 8 Disc TDF.

Featuring a classic playing card motif, the frame artwork celebrates Canyon’s wildcard race entrants at this year’s Tour de France: Alpecin-Fenix and Arkéa-Samsic. The joker – the only card revealed in the deck – symbolises a bringer of good luck, and just like the regional flag of Brittany, it also features a stylised ermine, paying homage to the starting region of this year's event.

The Grand Départ in Brest is an especially significant highlight of this year’s race for locally-based outfit Team Arkéa-Samsic, hailing from the north-western city of Rennes, Brittany. During the race, Arkéa-Samsic rider and Brittany native Élie Gesbert will be riding an Ultimate CF SLX TDF frame, as he puts it all on the line at some of the most famous climbs in the world, like the Col du Tourmalet and Mont Ventoux.

The artwork of the Tour de France-edition Ultimate CF SLX was also created to pay homage to the long tradition of card playing in cycling culture. Even in Eddy Merckx’s day, pros spent time between stages in epic hours-long card sessions – there are even plenty parallels between bicycle racing and card game parlance, with phrases like poker face, ace up your sleeve, and bluffing equally relevant in both.

In terms of components, only premium parts make it onto the Ultimate CF SLX TDF. Top-end drivetrain technology is a given, with SRAM’s advanced 12-speed Force eTap AXS disc groupset, including power meter, combined with the ergonomic, lightweight Canyon-developed CP10 carbon cockpit. DT Swiss ARC 1400 Dicut carbon wheels – featuring 50 mm deep-section rims – aren’t only super-fast, but perfectly complement the bike’s elegant, dynamic aesthetic. Wrapped in Continental GP 5000 gumwall tyres, they deliver superb performance at a stunningly low weight. Like every Ultimate model, the TDF Special Edition is built to give the rider uncompromising efficiency and high levels of comfort in the most extreme racing conditions imaginable – add in extraordinary stiffness-to-weight values, and you get a bike that’s ready to mix it up at the highest levels of competition.

In honour of the 108th edition of the Tour de France, only 108 Ultimate CF SLX 8 Disc TDF bikes will ever go on sale. They will be available from Wednesday 30 June 2021, exclusively at canyon.com. The bike will cost €5,999* and come with a special Canyon-designed deck of cards, featuring the same reverse-side pattern as the cards depicted on the bike’s frame.

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