Wout van Aert and a few of his Visma-Hire a Motorbike teammates covered up at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in Giro Aerohead time trial helmets the day before today.
It seemed the crew have been leaving no stone unturned of their quest for max pace. Van Aert used to be lively within the race, however completed off the rostrum in the principle bunch.
The Aerohead has been within the Giro helmet vary for a number of years and won an replace forward of Tirreno-Adriatico ultimate yr, which led to the biking global to have one thing of a meltdown because of its sheer dimension and excessive form.
Van Aert and his teammates were the usage of the older Aerohead 1.0 helmet, which makes use of a detachable visor. It’s an older fashion and is technically a time trial helmet, however its user-friendly form makes it an possibility for highway use. It is nonetheless to be had at the Giro web site.
Van Aert has been noticed within the helmet at a couple of races already this yr and determined to put on it at Omloop on Saturday. He rolled out at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne day after today, on the other hand, in a standard highway helmet.
Van Aert and his teammates gave the impression to be dressed in two other variations of the helmet, with the Belgian’s vented and painted in his Crimson Bull sponsors’ livery while a few of his teammates’ yellow helmets weren’t. The non-vented model of the helmet is the older Aerohead Final MIPS helmet, which used to be it sounds as if sooner however misplaced the facet vents.
Crew contributors dressed in the older Giro Aerohead time trial helmets for his or her Omloop recon (Symbol credit score: David Pintens Contributor)Why put on an older helmet?
Why use the technically older helmets? Smartly, it would possibly not come as an excessive amount of of a wonder however they’re it sounds as if only a sooner possibility on some classes. Van Aert has proven he is not frightened of going after each imaginable technical merit, as proven via his double-disc wheel use on the Paris Olympics.
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We requested Visma-Hire a Motorbike for remark, and the crew defined that the helmets had examined sooner in some eventualities, so it made sense to make use of them the place they’re a approved possibility.
“We tested, and in some cases it is much faster,” a spokesperson for the crew stated.
“It depends on the course; some ride with it, some don’t. We started using them in Oman, then UAE, Algarve and now Omloop.”
A direction, the wind path or even particular person riders’ frame shapes might neatly dictate if the Aerohead is the quickest. Something is evidently, if WorldTour execs can use one thing to cause them to sooner, they’ll.
CN Labs: Wind tunnel aero check.
