I think I'll stick to alloy handlebars

[fiamme red]

https://twitter.com/cyclingtips/stat...93021375700994

"Mathieu van der Poel's handlebars broke at the end of the semi-classic Le Samyn. It appears the bar broke at the lever clamp, likely because the lever clamp was overtightened."

[Edited to add:] After posting, I saw this article: https://cyclingtips.com/2021/03/yep-...hat-you-think/.

Broken handlebars are nothing new, of course, particularly with carbon fiber handlebars when crashes are involved. However, there were no reports of Van der Poel crashing during the race, and there’s also a visible crimp in the carbon fiber where the lever was once attached. And unusually, if you look closely at the remnants of Van der Poel’s handlebar, you can see that the lever isn’t just flapping about; there appears to be nothing attached to it at all.

Although there currently isn’t any visual or video evidence of when the ultimate failure actually occurred, the crimp suggests that Van der Poel’s lever was overtightened to the bar, and at some point — likely when his hands were in the drops — that side of the handlebar snapped in two right at the clamp point. As for the missing pieces, my guess is that they were torn off and discarded along the side of the road somewhere, or were so heavily damaged already that the shards simply fell away...