When Caroline Schiff won the 2023 Garmin Unbound Gravel presented by Craft women's 200-mile race, it was an epic late-race solo run that gave this German rider a stunning solo victory.

Of her victory, Schiff said, "I didn't think there would be a big difference. To finish is to finish, and you just have to push because you never know what will happen. I love gravel racing! I love gravel racing.

Schiff is a member of the Canyon CLLCTV gravel team and has used the brand's Grizl gravel bikes so far this season, including winning the UCI World Series in Berja, Spain. Canyon also manufactures the Grail gravel bike, and the Ultimate for road use is also compatible with gravel tires. Peter Stetina and other riders rode the same prototype. The new frame already seems to borrow features from Canyon's bike line, with a new seatpost shape and rumors of a frame storage space in the downtube, like Trek's Checkpoint and S-Works' Diverge STR.

The differences here are most noticeable at the front of the bike, where there is a deeper fork that looks similar to the Grizl model, but without the additional mounts on that fork. In addition, the handlebar and stem are integrated, widening downward from the stem faceplate and flaring outward from the hood to the drop.

Despite the visual similarity to the Grizl up front, we suspect this is the successor to Canyon's more race-ready gravel bike, the Grail. The Grail made a splash when it was first released with its bizarre two-stage handlebar design, later renamed the "Grail Cockpit," but we have not seen the bars used much in competition.

The orange and black camouflage paint job works well to disguise the lines and details of the frame.

The photo above, from Unbound gravel's Instagram page, shows what looks like Canyon's new prototype handlebars spreading downward. The brake hoses are exposed under the stem for now.

On the equipment side, Schiff uses a Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, with a double 11-speed 9100 chainset and a 12-speed R9250 rear derailleur.

Tires were Schwalbe G-One RS tubeless models, and Schiff raced with a spare inner tube on the top tube. Judging from appearances, this is one of Schwalbe's Aerothan tubes, which are very lightweight but offer good puncture protection, which is very important in unbound.

Wheels were supplied by Enve, and Schiff went with 42mm deep 3.4 rims on the rear and the shallower AG25 gravel model on the front.