Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) said Shimano's neutral-service bike felt "very uncomfortable" after he punctured on the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, April 12, and rode the replacement for roughly six kilometres before his team car reached him.
The world champion criticised the saddle height and wheels on the blue Shimano spare, which he was forced to use when no UAE vehicle was close enough to respond.
Pogačar flatted in the Quérénaing à Maing sector with 120km remaining. He initially refused a neutral-service wheel from the race motorbikes, apparently hoping his own car would arrive, but narrow roads and gaps in the peloton made that impossible.
TNT Sports analyst Matt Stephens, watching the broadcast, said: "It looks like the seat height is too high for Tadej, it's way too high." Pogačar was visibly frustrated as he waited for a chance to switch back to his own machine.
Once Pogačar received a UAE spare bike, he launched what his team called a "determined 20km chase back to the front of the race." UAE burned through domestiques to bring him back, with António Morgado, Nils Politt and Mikkel Bjerg doing the bulk of the work. Pogačar rejoined the front group before the Trouée d'Arenberg, around 98km to go, but the effort had cost him and his team energy they could not recover. He finished second behind Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Pogačar described the bike as uncomfortable and went as far as to call it a "karjolo" to Slovenian media RTV Slo, which is Slovenian slang for wheelbarrow.
Of course, the language is harsh given the actual calibre of bike used by neutral service cars. Having posted this on X (formerly Twitter) yesterday, many replies in my comments picked up on this slight mismatch in Pogačar's view of the bike against its complete Dura-Ace groupset and wheelset spec on a high-end carbon frame.
What wasn't entirely clear, though, was which specific model was being used. Some commentators suggested the frame was a 2021 Origine Axxome, which indeed some of the neutral service fleet seems to use.
However, a close look at the seattube and toptube junction of the Roubaix bike seems to confirm that the bike is either a Canyon Endurace or Ultimate, with the downtube intersection with the headtube suggesting it's more likely an Ultimate, and most likely from 2021.
We'd argue further evidence it is more likely an Ultimate than an Endurace because while the Endurace used a conventional bar and stem (just as this service bike does) the cable inlets on the headtube don't match the 2021 Endurace model.
Why does Shimano use a 2021 Canyon as a neutral bike?
Shimano's neutral-service fleet is designed as emergency support, not a bespoke substitute. The cars carry six bikes in different sizes, all equipped with Shimano Di2 groupsets and dropper seatposts so riders can adjust saddle height on the fly. The dropper post also requires a rounded seatpost, which also broadly favours quick adjustments to saddle height.
The reason for the 2021 frame, then, was that as from 2022 the Ultimate moved to a custom non-round seatpost. That makes it incompatible with a dropper post, and harder to adjust.
That setup is built for fast compatibility across dozens of teams and hundreds of riders. For a rider like Pogačar, already under pressure on rough pavé, a generic frame geometry and unfamiliar contact points can turn a functional bike into a liability.
A 2021 Canyon Ultimate CF SL 7 also hits a very good sweet spot in terms of broader versatility, being a reasonable option for a long mountain or flat stage.
Despite the criticism, the system got him moving again, though the episode highlighted the gap between a generic spare and a race-tuned bike during a high-speed chase on cobblestones.
Pogačar entered Paris-Roubaix targeting the one Monument missing from his palmarès. The puncture did not end that bid, but it reshaped the race around him, forcing a chase that consumed teammates and burned energy in a race that punishes every wasted effort.
Whether the neutral bike's fit cost him the win is impossible to isolate. For six kilometres on the pavé, the world champion was riding a bike that did not feel like his own.
For the neutral service project more broadly, though, it was great exposure. Once run by Mavic, the bikes follow the WorldTour across the season. Their use is mainly confined to the riders closer to the broomwagon than the race win, and so a stint below Pogačar is nice recognition for a project, and a team, that plays a key role in supporting the WorldTour.
Cover image credit: ASO/Etienne Garnier
