Canyon has asked customers to stop using their new Aeroad bikes after a dramatic component failure in the finale of yesterday's Le Samyn race in Belgium.
The incident involved the bike of Mathieu van der Poel, whose handlebar snapped towards the end of the race leaving the right-hand shifter dangling freely in the breeze.
Remarkably van der Poel not only continued the race, but managed to lead out his Alpecin-Fenix team mate Tim Merlier to victory in the final sprint.
Canyon has today issued a notice to customers to stop riding their bikes while they conduct an investigation into the incident.
The affected models are the current Aeroad CF SLX and Aeroad CFR bikes, which use Canyon's new CP0018 and CP0015 integrated cockpits.
The new handlebar/stem cockpits are unusual in that they feature an adjustable width, allowing the user to customise the sizing to suit.
However, pictures of van der Poel's snapped bar suggest the failure was unrelated to this mechanism, happening instead at the point where the shifter clamps to the bar - perhaps as a result of being overtightened.
In fact, the problem may be not the bars but rather the non-standard clamp that Canyon have designed to attach shifters to its new cockpits. The redesign was necessary because Canyon's bars have a square profile at the ends; this means the round Shimano shifter clamps - or indeed SRAM or Campagnolo - won't fit.
Peak Torque have an interesting look at the issue here:
"Stop using your bike"
Whatever the cause, it's no surprise that the incident has prompted a serious response from the top at Canyon.
"On Tuesday, 2 March at one of the opening classic races "Le Samyn", a part of the handlebar of our Alpecin-Fenix pro Mathieu van der Poel (NED) quite obviously broke off during the race," opens today's statement.
"Experts from the Canyon development and quality management departments immediately began analysis and testing to understand the cause of this incident. The affected cockpits (CP0018 and CP0015) only installed on the current Aeroad models CF SLX and CFR. The Aeroad CF SL is not in any way affected by this issue.
"'Mathieu fortunately did not fall. We want to ensure with absolute certainty that no one comes to harm before we have fully understood the root cause' says Roman Arnold, founder of Canyon Bicycles. Canyon is therefore informing all affected Aeroad customers and asking them to stop using their bike for the time being."
While the investigation is ongoing, Canyon's team riders will switch to the previous model Aeroad or the brand's Ultimate road bike.
PR blow - with a silver lining?
The failure is a PR blow to Canyon, particularly as it involves their most high-profile sponsored rider. Van der Poel has featured heavily in Canyon's marketing of the new Aeroad since early teaser shots of him riding it on a turbo trainer last year.
The versatile star also races on the brand's Exceed and Lux mountain bikes, while earlier this year he swept to a third cyclocross World Championship title aboard the Canyon Inflite CF SLX.
While Tuesday's drama is clearly not the sort of publicity Canyon would wish for, the silver lining is that van der Poel emerged unscathed from what could easily have been a catastrophic accident.
His impressive finish to the race is likely to have won him a whole new set of fans - and that may well prove positive for Canyon in the long run.
For now, attention turns to this Saturday's Strade Bianche. And guess who the bookies have down as joint favourite?
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