You have to go back to 1952 to find a Tour de Romandie without chorno. This unmissable event on the French-speaking loop is the subject of a technological race that fascinates and questions.
It was the Visma team which relaunched the debates at the beginning of March during the Tirreno-Adriatico time trial. The Dutch team equipped its riders with an imposing, profiled and aerodynamic helmet which caused quite a stir within the peloton.
“I’m not saying that these time trial helmets are horrible, I’m just saying that it’s a good time to stop cycling,” Belgian veteran Thomas De Gendt (Lotto) wrote on X at the time. This new technological discovery, however, did not allow Jonas Vingegaard (9th at 22”) to beat Juan Ayuso (UAE) during this initial time, the latter riding with a more traditional profiled helmet.
“They are playing with the rules”
“They are playing with the rules. It is clear that they should not come with helmets one meter long in the future, but the UCI is there to put up barriers,” believes Yannis Voisard. Limits for the moment set at 45 cm in length and 21 cm in height, according to the regulations of the international organization.
The Jura from the Tudor team, who is aiming for a good place in the general classification of this Tour de Romandie, appreciates the solitary event and the technological progress that accompanies it. “We have been developing this a lot with the team for two years. We are doing wind tunnel tests in Silverstone, England. It’s really the tiny details that make the difference in aerodynamics and I like being very picky,” he explains.
If the Visma helmets have attracted so much attention, it is above all for their particular appearance. But some members of the peloton, like Adam Yates, don’t care much about these aesthetic considerations. “At the turn of the Emirates in 2022 I wore a similar one and everyone made fun of me,” remembers the Briton, who was racing at the time under the colors of Ineos.
“But if it makes you go faster, no one cares what you look like. I think any rider would agree to wear a weird helmet if it saves 20 seconds on a counter-attack. the watch,” assures Adam Yates.
Physicality will always come first
Yannis Voisard points out, however, that the rider’s legs will always make the difference. “No matter how much you equip the best of amateurs with cutting-edge technology, they will never beat a pure specialist. Physicality will always make the difference. That said, the impact of equipment and technology is very important, we see it” , analyzes the 25-year-old cyclist.
You still have to find the right adjustments, which is not an easy thing. “What’s quite crazy is that it’s specific to the morphology of each runner” adds Yannis Voisard. “A helmet that allows someone to go faster will not have the same effectiveness on another athlete.”
To see if this state-of-the-art equipment will be available between Palézieux and Oron-la-Ville, where the riders of the Tour de Romandie will parade one by one on Friday.
This article was automatically published. Source: ats
