SEASON REVIEW: SPRING CLASSICS DOMINATION AND GRAND TOUR SUCCESS WITH CANYON'S MEN'S ROAD RACING TEAMS

MVDP dominating the Spring Classics, Philipsen and Groves shining in the Grand Tours, and a glimpse towards riders of the future with Romeo and Del Grosso.

2024 was the year that Canyon riders dominated the Spring Classics, shone in the Grand Tours and were consistently front and centre. Mathieu van der Poel and Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Jasper Philipsen were on outstanding form, Spanish squad Movistar picked up wins through their experienced roster, Miami Blazers notching several wins Stateside, and a new TT U23 world champion was crowned.

There was also a new wave of exciting talent to emerge, with Ivan Romeo and Pelayo Sánchez (both Movistar, pictured below) and several riders from the Alpecin-Deceuninck Development Team demonstrating the future talent within both squads.

While the likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen certainly drew the biggest headlines this season it was Pelayo Sánchez who got the ball rolling in late January, winning the Trofeo Pollença-Port d'Andratx in Mallorca, Spain from a small group sprint. 

That lit the touch paper for a consistently excellent spring from all the Canyon-supported teams. Axel Lawrence won stage 1 of the Etoile de Bessèges - Tour du Gard, on only his second outing at WorldTour level, with the former U23 world champion picking up three more victories before making his Tour de France debut in July. 

Movistar’s Will Barta and Fernando Gaviria plus Philipsen all tasted early season success as the momentum and excitement built towards the Spring Classics. 

What was to come was one of the most exhilarating and memorable Classics campaigns in living memory. 

Taking centre stage throughout the period were Alpecin-Deceuninck with the Belgian squad cementing themselves as the best Classics squad in the men’s peloton. 

Philipsen and van der Poel combined perfectly to win Milan-San Remo, the first Monument of the season. It was van der Poel who laid the foundations by matching a vicious attack from Tadej Pogačar on the Poggio before marking the Slovenian as a group containing Philipsen set about a frantic chase. Van der Poel then neutralised several late attacks from key rivals inside the closing kilometres before Philipsen sprinted alongside the barriers to take the first Monument of his career. 

Van der Poel would then dominate the cobbled Classics, winning E3 Saxo Classic thanks to an 82km solo move, and then winning the Tour of Flanders through another expertly timed long-distance attack, this time with over 50km of racing remaining. The crowning moment of the rider’s spring came at Paris-Roubaix a week later, with the Dutch rider romping away on his Canyon Aeroad 60km from the famous Roubaix velodrome to take another jaw-dropping victory. 

Van der Poel’s win in Roubaix - the fastest edition of the race on record - meant he was the first male rider in 11 years to complete the historic Flanders-Roubaix double and just the third rider since the early 1990s to defend his title. The wins in Flanders and Roubaix weren’t just individualist efforts, despite what the long-range attacks might tell us, with Philipsen, Gianni Vermeersch, and Søren Kragh Andersen among those who played pivotal roles in Alpecin-Deceuninck’s successful spring, which also included a win for Philipsen in the Classic Brugge De Panne, and second behind van der Poel in Roubaix.

Away from the all-conquering team, there were breakout performances for other riders during the spring with Movistar’s Oier Lazkano enjoying a rich vein of form. The Spaniard had already impressed with a win at the Clásica Jaén in February and followed that up with third in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and cameos throughout the cobbled campaign.

May and June continued to deliver with Pelayo Sánchez popping up again with a thrilling win on the Strade Bianche stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia. The Spaniard made the day’s break and then out-foxed Julian Alaphilippe and Luke Plapp in the sprint for the line to take the biggest win of his career. 

Meanwhile, the Alpecin-Deceuninck Development Team went from strength to strength, picking up 13 wins throughout the season, with Simon Dehairs and Tibor Del Grosso chipping in with multiple wins. Unsurprisingly both riders have graduated towards the men’s WorldTour team in 2025, alongside teammates Ramses Debruyne and Emiel Verstrynge.

In the US, Cory Williams and his Miami Blazers enjoyed a standout season. Williams won several criteriums during the season and then became the Belize national road and time trial champion, racing aboard his Aeroad CFR and SpeedMax TT to win respective titles. 

Williams then put his all-round skills to good effect to win the Caribbean Road Championships and finish third in the corresponding time trial. 

Williams’s teammate, Dante Young, also tasted success, winning the Tulsa Tough, and several crits, including the Taylor Elizabeth Clifford Memorial GP and the Costa Mesa Grand Prix.

Back in Europe, ​​Alex Aranburu (Movistar) became the Spanish national road champion for the first time in his career, ending a run of three straight third-place finishes in the race. The Spaniard would go on to race a valiant Tour de France, hunting stage wins on several occasions as both Movistar and Alpecin-Deceuninck looked to make an impression in the world’s biggest race. 

Philipsen won three stages in total at the Tour, bringing his tally to nine career stage wins so far. The Belgian would end the season on eight victories in total.

At the Paralympic Games in Paris, former swimmer turned cyclist Riccardo Ten claimed a history gold on his SpeedMax CFR in the Men's time trial C1 and bronze in the men’s Men's Pursuit C1. Ten would go on to win two further golds at the World Championships later in the season, while fellow para cyclist Ewoud Vromant would go on to win his second ever world title in the men’s time trial C2. 

Then at the final Grand Tour of the season, Canyon riders enjoyed further success. Enric Mas (Movistar) finished third overall, while Kaden Groves bounced back from a quiet first half of the year to win three stages and retain the points jersey he won for the first time in 2023.

The UCI Road World Championships brought more success for Canyon riders, especially in the women’s field, but Ivan Romeo also flew the flag with a dominant win in the men’s u23 time trial on his Speedmax CFR. 

Overall, the year had huge standout moments on the men’s side for Canyon. From the Spring Classics to the Grand Tours and the major championships in between, riders demonstrated their world-class abilities on the biggest stages of all and came away with victories and inspiring performances. Roll on 2025.