Mathieu van der Poel faces a big decision tonight ahead of his defence of his Paris-Roubaix crown: will he race the Canyon Aeroad CFR, the trusty race bike thats borne him to dozens of victories, or the new Canyon Endurace CFR? He raced the Aeroad at the 2026 Tour of Flanders last week, having debuted the new Endurace at the E3 Saxo Classic, so is well placed to weigh up the benefits of both bikes. That he reverted to the Aeroad at Flanders doesn't cement that as the only option for Paris-Roubaix, even if its supposedly a precious 1W faster than its new sibling. He and his teammates have been spotted testing both options in the run-up to the race, and the demands of Roubaix are a far cry from Flanders not to mention sponsor commitments. So what will he race? Lets analyse his options, with an option for you to vote below. Tame the cobbles, or punish them? We were given an Endurace to photograph by the team. Ash Quinlan / Our Media Its telling that van der Poels team wouldnt allow us hands-on access to his bike, supposedly because they dont yet know which bike hed be riding. A team representative stated that Mathieu has the choice ahead of tomorrow, suggesting the choice sat between Canyons entire range of race bikes still remains. Immediately discounting the now-ageing and relatively un-aero Ultimate, neither the Aeroad or Endurace bike is without compromise. van der Poel has been testing the Aeroad in recent days on the cobbles. DIRK WAEM / BELGA MAG / Belga / AFP via Getty Images According to Canyon, the Aeroad remains marginally more aerodynamically efficient than the new Endurace, but it cant match the new Enduraces 35mm tyre clearance. This is important, given the trend towards wider tyres at Roubaix. The ferocity of the Queen of the Classics cobbles is unmatched, and has seen van der Poels key challenger, Tadej Pogaar go to extremes with a 35mm tyre up front on his Colnago Y1RS. Will van der Poel look at Pogi's tyres with envy? Ash Quinlan / Our Media Van der Poels Aeroad can, officially, only accommodate 32mm-wide tyres while leaving the requisite 6mm clearance to the frame. Could that 1W loss in aero effiency be worth it for wider tyres? A huge marketing win? The media feeding frenzy would be wild should van der Poel win on an endurance bike. Ash Quinlan / Our Media Its also worth remember Canyon is intimately linked with the Dutch racer van der Poel is an incredibly important marketing billboard for the company. Could the brand have some sway in his decision? Read more: The new Canyon Endurace CFR is good, but I dont think it's an endurance bike Naturally, a win on the brand new bike would be a marketing golden goal, but wouldnt they also just settle for a win no matter the bike? Muddying the waters is the fact that teammate Jasper Philipsens Endurace CFR race bike that we photographed has the same 32mm wide tyres fitted as his number two bike a Canyon Aeroad. This indicates that even Philipsen isnt 100 per cent sure what the best option might be come race day, and might not feel extra-wide tyres are for him. He's ridden the Aeroad to dozens of victories will he switch for Roubaix? Simon von Bromley / Our Media Also, we witnessed van der Poel returning from his final training ride on an Aeroad, running standard-for-Roubaix 32mm tyres. We then spotted a further backup Aeroad being worked on with the same tyres. However, in a game of tech subterfuge, its not out of the question that van der Poel and his team could pull a shock on race day, starting him on the Endurace CFR (thereby giving him the option to switch during the race), or keep the Endurace CFR on standby for just before the toughest part of the race gets going. Well be on the ground to confirm his choice on race day but what do you think? Vote below!