The UCI Gravel World Championships are becoming a new hotbed of innovation for high-end bikes, encouraging new technologies in tires and suspension systems.

Lapierre was one of the brands testing the waters with new technology in the women's race, where new gravel bikes were spotted in the pits.

Placed only momentarily next to the FDJ-Suez team car, its origin, use, and owner remain a mystery. However, even a cursory glance reveals that this is a completely new and unknown bike for FDJ-Suez.

The brand's existing gravel option, the Pulsium Allroad, is a much less adventure-oriented model with front suspension, floating seatstays, and a dramatic splay handlebar setup.

This unnamed gravel bike bears some striking similarities to Lapierre's hardtail model, the Pro Race CF. Subtle differences in tube shape and joints indicate that it is a different bike.

The integrated headset and stem, as well as the aerodynamic profile of the handlebars, confirm the racing-like aerodynamic orientation.

The bike appears to be built around the SRAM XPLR range, with the Rudy Ultimate XPLR suspension fork system, which appears to have 40mm of travel.

The dropper post appears to be a RockShox Reverb AXS XPLR dropper, part of the XPLR components.

The timing chip on the fork suggests that the bike was used in the Elite Women's or Age Group World Championships, and the bottle suggests that an FDJ-Suez rider handled the bike. However, a search of race images did not yield any information about the bike's owner or its performance in the race.

For now, the bike stands out alongside Marianne Vos' auto-inflated tires as one of the more impressive technological discoveries of the gravel world championship.

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