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Is this the new Campagnolo Super Record EPS 12 speed groupset on Valverde's Canyon Ultimate?

Movistar recently unveiled the reigning world champion's new bike, complete with rainbow stripes and what appears to be a couple of unfamiliar components...

Campagnolo became the first to launch 12 speed road groupsets last year, unveiling Super Record and Record cassettes with a dozen sprockets. Both of these groupsets were mechanical with no date set for EPS (electronic) versions set initially... but we reckon road world champion Alejandro Valverde may have just shown it off for the first time on his new Canyon Ultimate CF SLX.  

Review: Campagnolo Record 12 speed disc groupset

valverde ultimate 3

The frame and finishing kit have a strong rainbow striped theme throughout, and also there some cool multicoloured decals on the Bora Ultra carbon wheels. Although we can't see closely enough in Movistar's gallery to count the number of sprockets we can confirm that the crankset and levers are the new Super Record 12 speed versions, which means unless someone has been doing some serious bodge jobs at the rear this bike has to be 12 speed. The difference is in the front mech... 

campag side by side

Above is a side-by-side comparison of the front mech on Valverde's new steed and the mechanical Super Record front derailleur currently available to buy... and we're pretty sure the one on the left looks like an electrified version. The extra part added to the front derailleur clamp looks pretty much the same as the shift motor that appears on the Super Record EPS 11 speed front mech.  

Valverde will ride this bike in 2019 as the reigning world champion, complete with a 12 speed electronic groupset if our speculating is correct. Campagnolo still haven't set a date for the official release of Super Record and Record EPS 12, but with almost a year passing since the launch of the mechanical versions, we wouldn't bet against it hitting shop floors in early 2019. 

What do you think of Valverde's new-look Canyon Ultimate, and will you be saving up for 12 speed EPS when it lands? Let us know in the comments.  

Arriving at road.cc in 2017 via 220 Triathlon Magazine, Jack dipped his toe in most jobs on the site and over at eBikeTips before being named the new editor of road.cc in 2020, much to his surprise. His cycling life began during his students days, when he cobbled together a few hundred quid off the back of a hard winter selling hats (long story) and bought his first road bike - a Trek 1.1 that was quickly relegated to winter steed, before it was sadly pinched a few years later. Creatively replacing it with a Trek 1.2, Jack mostly rides this bike around local cycle paths nowadays, but when he wants to get the racer out and be competitive his preferred events are time trials, sportives, triathlons and pogo sticking - the latter being another long story.  

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