Photos of Wout van Aert’s recce ride ahead of Paris-Roubaix this weekend show the Visma–Lease a Bike leader using Gravaa’s KAPS tyre inflation system.
The Gravaa system uses a hub containing a mini-electronic inflator, which enables the rider to adjust tyre pressures on the fly via a wireless trigger mounted on the bars.
The Gravaa system was initially designed for gravel racing, where Marianne Vos used it to ride to victory at the 2024 UCI Gravel World Championships.
However, this isn’t Gravaa’s first sighting in the cobbled Classics, with three of Visma–Lease a Bike’s riders using the system in the 2023 edition of Paris-Roubaix.
Dylan van Baarle, Christophe Laporte, and Edoardo Affini all used the pressure adjustment system, though van Baarle – the Paris-Roubaix winner in 2022 with Ineos-Grenadiers – was involved in a crash that ended his race.
Judging by the photos of van Aert’s recce on Thursday, the Belgian is riding his favoured Cervélo S5, while the wheelset looks like Reserve’s Gravaa-compatible wheelset with a 42mm-deep front and 49mm-deep rear rim.
The Vittoria tyres look to take up nearly all of the S5’s 34mm tyre clearance. Could Wout be using the largest 32mm size available in the Corsa Pro range?
Wout also looks to be using SRAM Red AXS in a 1x setup, and the crankset appears to be the Red Aero E1 1x option.
We’ve previously reported on how 1x has been a major tech talking point at this year’s Spring Classics, albeit the XPLR gravel version used by Lidl-Trek through the hilly cobbled races.
Whether van Aert will use the Gravaa system in Sunday’s race remains to be seen.
At the very least, he’ll be gathering some very useful pre-race tyre pressure data ahead of the toughest one-day race on the professional calendar for both riders and their equipment.
