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Sneak peek! New Cannondale SuperSix Evo breaks cover – best pictures yet

Fourth-generation Cannondale SuperSix Evo is raced for the first time in the Santos Tour Down Under as a UCI list confirms three new platforms are on the way

An update to the UCI’s List of Approved Models of Framesets has removed any doubts that a new Cannondale SuperSix Evo is on the way. We now know that three models have been approved for racing in UCI events: the SuperSix Evo 4, the SuperSix Evo 4 SL, and the SuperSix 4 Hi-Mod.

Let’s be honest, we all already knew that an update is coming because we’ve seen pictures of EF Education-EasyPost team on the new bike over the past couple of weeks, including in the Tour Down Under, but the UCI’s list confirms it and tells us that there will be three levels (the Canyon Speedmax Track CFR has been added to the list too, but let’s not get into that here).

When a brand wants a new frameset approved, it sends the drawings over to the UCI which then checks that the design conforms with the rules (the finished frameset isn’t sent in; these aren’t safety checks).

> Is this the new Cannondale SuperSix Evo 4? Pro riders spotted on mysterious new road racing machine 

As you can see, the three Cannondale SuperSix models were approved way back in October 2021. The company can request that the details are kept off the UCI’s list until the official launch date.

How come they’ve been made public now, before any launch? We don’t know for certain but when this has happened before it has been because of a delay in the launch. Perhaps Cannondale planned to have officially unveiled the bike by now, but there has been a hold-up and no one has updated the admin. That’s speculation. Perhaps Cannondale just wanted to keep it under the radar until the start of the Tour Down Under. Now that's underway, fill yer boots.

2023 Jan 15 UCI list new bikes Cannondale - 1

Whatever, the third-generation Cannondale SuperSix Evo was launched in June 2019 so a new version has certainly been due. Top-level road bikes from big brands usually get revamped every three or four years, so we’d have been surprised if a new one didn’t materialise in 2023.

The new Cannondale SuperSix Evo 4 was spotted the social media channels of riders Diego Camargo and Andrey Amador at the end of last year, and Rigoberto Urán has been seen on the new bike since then. 

Now it is being ridden in the Tour Down Under by EF Education-EasyPost (men’s) and EF Education-TIBCO-SVB (women’s) teams.

> Best road bikes 2023 — find your perfect drop bar bike whatever your budget

The new SuperSix Evo looks fairly similar to the existing model at first glance, but you can see that there have been changes at the front end. The fork crown isn’t as integrated into the down tube, for instance, while the fork legs are deeper. That deepening is presumably for extra aerodynamic efficiency.

2023 Tour Down Under Cannondale SuperSix Evo - 1 (2)

All pics © Zac WiLLIAMS SWpix.com (t/a Photography Hub Ltd)

There’s another difference in the cockpit area. We’re not certain but it looks like there’s cleaner cable routing from the handlebars into the frame of the new model, and the bars look boxier at the front and slimmer at the stem.

> Read our review of the third-generation Cannondale SuperSix Evo Carbon Disc 105 

Moving backwards, it looks like the SAVE seatstays are now dropped lower than previously. The first couple of versions of the SuperSix Evo didn’t have dropped seatstays, and then Cannondale moved the junction with the seat tube down on version three. Now they’ve gone really, really low.

This will presumably be designed to reduce the bike’s frontal area in order to improve aerodynamics and/or to permit more compliance in the seat tube and therefore allow more movement at the saddle for comfort.

You can also see in these pictures that the seat tube has undergone significant reshaping. The top section is deeper than previously and the seat post that slots in there looks deeper too. Again, this is probably designed to increase aero efficiency.

One other feature to note is the ‘Lab71’ emblazoned on the seat tube. What is Lab71?

Cannondale’s website says, “Since 1971, Cannondale has been peering over the edge of what is possible in bicycle design, performance, and engineering. It's now time to chase beyond it. Welcome to LAB71: Cannondale’s best, done better.” 

2023 Tour Down Under Cannondale SuperSix Evo © Zac WiLLIAMS SWpix.com (t:a Photography Hub Ltd)- 1 -

Intriguing! If you sign up for more info (of course we did, we’re nosey) you’ll get an email saying that “Great things are coming. Stay tuned”, but no more details than that.

Cannondale has applied to trademark the name LAB71. We’re guessing that it’s the name the brand intends to give to its super-duper high-tech designs, maybe a little like Specialized's S-Works label.

The existing Cannondale SuperSix Evo – the third generation – is available in a standard version and in a more expensive Hi-Mod layup. Cannondale also introduced a limited edition Leichtbau model with a mega-light 750g frame in August 2022.

> Cannondale unveils new SuperSix EVO Leichtbau with a mega-light 750g frame

As mentioned up top, the UCI’s List of Approved Models of Framesets has revealed that the new Cannondale SuperSix will be available in (at least) three tiers. We imagine that the SuperSix Evo 4 and the SuperSix 4 Hi-Mod will be straight swaps for the existing standard and Hi-Mod versions.

Will the SL come in right at the top? That would make sense but we’ll have to wait for the official launch to find out.

Check out loads more Bikes at Bedtime here.

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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2 comments

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Wingguy | 1 year ago
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"How come they’ve been made public now, before any launch? We don’t know for certain"

Yes we do. It's because it's being raced. The UCI list exists to tell racers what frames can be raced in UCI events, not to tell the public what bikes they can buy. The Evo 4 is now being raced at UCI events, therefore it has to be visible on the UCI list. QED.

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Mat Brett replied to Wingguy | 1 year ago
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Hi Wingguy, thanks for your comment. 

What usually happens is that a brand gets a UCI Prototype Authorization for a model that’s not yet commercially available.

The Canyon mentioned above, for example, was approved by UCI in September and raced at the Track World Champs in October under UCI Prototype Authorization. It was only added to the publicly viewable List of Approved Framesets this week (since January 1st 2023, bikes now have to be on the list of available framesets before being allowed to be raced in UCI Track events).

Members of Jumbo-Visa rode many races, including the 2021 Tour de France, on what turned out to be a new version of the Cervelo R5 – launched in September 2021. Although that bike was approved in November 2020, the approval wasn’t shown on the public list until well after the 2021 Tour, which is why people were still speculating that it would be called the R6 prior to the official launch.

Hope that helps.

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