Mathieu van der Poel may have inadvertently revealed a key detail about Shimanos unreleased road pedals during Paris-Roubaix. The defendging Dutchman punctured twice and was forced to change bikes on the Troue dArenberg, but appeared to struggle to clip into a Jasper Philipsen's bike which we know was fitted with Shimanos new prototype pedals. This strongly suggests the new pedals likely called SPD-SLR uses a different cleat design to the current SPD-SL standard. Read more: New Shimano road bike pedals spotted at Paris-Roubaix here's everything we know so far Un minuto y medio de pura desesperacin y agona. Mathieu Van der Poel pincha, no puede arrancar con la bici de su compaero y pierde casi todas sus opciones de lograr su cuarta #ParisRoubaix. El 'Infierno del Norte', ms infierno que nunca. pic.twitter.com/KIfL9A9LCd Teledeporte (@teledeporte) April 12, 2026 Van Der Poel couldn't clip into his teammates pedals. We first spotted the pedals on Jasper Philipsens bike ahead of the race. While changes to the pedal body itself appear subtle, this latest incident points to more significant updates hidden out of sight. At a glance, the prototypes closely resemble Shimanos existing Dura-Ace PD-R9100 pedals, with only minor tweaks to the body shape and contact plates. However, a slimmer central section suggests Shimano is continuing the recent push towards lower stack heights. Read more: I've spotted an unreleased Shimano pedal system and it looks like the product we've been waiting years for The incident likely confirms the new pedals use a different cleat design. Ash Quinlan / Our Media Theres been a growing arms race in this area, with brands chasing marginal gains, where bringing the riders foot closer to the pedal axle for improved stability and efficiency. Its possible Shimanos new cleat and pedal combination pushes this further, even if outward changes appear minimal. Theres no official word on the launch or technical details at the time of writing, but this mid-race incident offers the clearest indication yet that a more significant evolution of Shimanos long-standing road pedal system could be on the way.