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The Volta ao Algarve has quite the list of past winners littered with Grand Tour, World Championship, and Monument-winning names. Arguably, it has the strongest field of any early-season European stage race. Featuring opportunities for sprinters, at least one mountaintop finish, tough roads, and usually a fairly lengthy individual time trial, the race offers something for everyone.
As the first outing for many specialists and new kit, the individual time trial in the Algarve is usually particularly interesting. This year’s certainly didn’t disappoint. Remco Evenepoel and a new Cervelo P5 stole the show on Saturday, but there was plenty of other interesting time trial tech and updates on show. Here’s what caught our eye.
What appears to be a new Cervelo P5 received most of our attention on Saturday, but there is plenty more to discuss in Wout van Aert’s and Visma-Lease a Bike’s 2024 TT setups. Most notable (and frequently commented on) are Van Aert’s rather ordinary-looking extensions and armrests. Presumably, the team’s existing carbon and aero-profiled extensions don’t fit the new bike. But there is little doubt Van Aert and others will be back on the Vision-branded carbon extensions before the main events of the season.
The team has also moved to Giro helmets from 2024 onwards, and Saturday was the first time many of us saw Giro’s hugely popular Aerohead TT helmet on the heads of the all-conquering squad. The Aerohead has been one of the most popular TT helmets of the past half-decade or more. That said, given its age, it will be interesting to see if the powers that be at Visma work with Giro to bring an updated TT helmet for later in the season.
Speaking of updates and changes, Van Aert has clearly updated his time-trialling position, now adopting a much higher hand position and forearm angle. These changes alone could be why we don’t yet see new custom extensions on his bike as he dials in the new setup. Furthermore, he has seemingly increased the reach to his armrests and lowered the extensions and arm rest height on the mono-riser. This new setup sees him adopt a longer and lower position.Finally, it’s no surprise to see Van Aert wearing a so-called “aero base layer” with a ribbed effect on the sleeves. These base layers have become almost ubiquitous in the pro peloton as teams and riders circumvent the UCI rule prohibiting such textured surfaces on the skinsuit itself. Teams use these aero base layers to reduce drag on the arm, which is effectively just a large cylinder and, as such, just like the lower leg, naturally aero-terrible. The trip strip-like ridges are similar in design and concept to those used on aero-socks and effectively trip the airflow over the arm and help reduce the wake behind arm, thus reducing overall drag … if done right. Van Aert has adopted the aero sleeves, but as we will see later, some are now experimenting with this aero hack in many more areas. Update: It seems Van Aert is actually using a “dual layer” skinsuit and not an aero base layer as mentioned.Pavel Bittner of DSM Firmenich-PostNL took to the time trial on his Scott Foil road bike. While it is not known why he had to race on a road bike, it clearly wasn’t a last-minute decision given the TT wheel setup. In case you are wondering, the “invisible aero bars” / “puppy paws” position is not banned in time trials, but also was not the most extreme hand position on show with the DSM squad. Martijn Tusveld seemed to be praying for a strong result …… While it seems Gijs Leemreize was out for a manicure.Usually quite handy (pun intended) in a time trial, Filippo Ganna was off the pace on Saturday. He was, though, seemingly taking the event as seriously as ever. Notice the chalk on his hands ala track racing, and the new lower base bar mount for his Garmin head unit. We first noticed Ganna mounting his Garmin in this new lower position last year’s Vuelta and he has continued with it into the new season. Head unit position has largely been down to chance or visibility until now. I don’t believe Ganna’s head unit shift is by chance and it seems logical we might see plenty of experimentation in this area in the coming years. Presumably, with the right combination of size, shape, location, and integration with the base bar, a head unit could double up almost like a front splitter plate, or if positioned low enough, perhaps a so-called “flow deflector,” doubling up to deflect the separated flow spiralling off the rotating front tyre, channelling and accelerating it accordingly. One final note on Ganna’s setup: we can see the Italian champion has also adopted the ridged aero sleeves and even extended this further to include an effect down the length of his back. Geraint Thomas is another rider who is now adopting the high-hands position. An update to the UCI regulations last year now allows extension angles of up to 30°. Thomas might well be experimenting with various angles, given the yellow marks on the adjustable angle risers. Tom Pidcock has been on the track, testing and improving his time trial position this winter. He doesn’t yet look as profiled as a Ganna or Thomas, but that likely speaks to the difficulty shorter riders have in getting into these aero positions. Secondly, our eyeballs make terrible CFD simulations. Again, note Pidcock’s extension risers; while many riders are looking for more reach, the Yorkshireman’s risers are seemingly designed to achieve the opposite and shorten the reach.
Alternatively, if we want to add some conspiracy spice to the time trialling season, could the entire Ineos Grenadiers squad be sandbagging and deliberately throwing curve balls knowing other teams may well be copying their homework? Will we now see more and more teams turn up with ridge back base layers, new head unit mounts, and extremely high hand positions? Intermarché-Wanty has entered the time-trialling party. Not historically known for sweating the marginal gains, Rune Herregodts and others this weekend proved Intermarché are now taking time trialling very seriously with new ERE Research aero wheels, what appear to be custom aero extensions, a position he has clearly spent some time working on, and a neatly positioned race radio. The Uvex helmet design appears to fit his position pretty perfectly.
Interestingly, Intermarché is taking an altogether different approach to the ridgeback skinsuit to that which we saw under Ganna’s suit. Where Ganna’s ridges traversed his back side to side perpendicular to the flow, Herregodt’s suit from Verge sees the ridges run the entire length of his back, parallel to the line of flow. Markus Hoelgaard of Uno-X Mobility highlights the Sweet Protection Redeemer 2Vi’s redeeming features, neatly integrating it into the curvature of his back and getting the sides pretty close to his shoulders. Hoelgaard has clearly done some work on his position also, as notable by the Wattshop angle-adjustable risers and reach-increasing Anemoi Extension Mount Plates. The Tudor Pro Cycling Team all raced on BMC’s older TimeMachine rather than the new SpeedMachine unveiled last year, as demonstrated here by Yannis Voisard. The team’s Assos Werkmannshaft skinsuits also feature more textures and trips than any other in the race, with the traditional trips on the sleeves and Assos’ square pattern texture on the main body. Similar to Verge, the Swiss brand has added ridges parallel to flow on the lower back. It’s so tempting to critique time trial positions from race photos, but as these two shots of Stefan Bissegger show us, these photos are no more than a snapshot in time. Here, we see Bissegger with his head up and looking forward, with the tail of his helmet flat on his back. Whereas in this photo, seemingly just seconds later, his head is lower, and the tail of the helmet has popped up. Whatever about his position, those Rapha overshoes look interesting. As does the Rapha skinsuit which is now finally available on Rapha’s website priced at an eye-watering (but not Olympic level mind-boggling) US$500. Stefan Küng made his first trial appearance of the season and first ever on a Wilier Turbine. Kung delivered an impressive third place on his first outing of the season and chooses Wilier’s aero-focused Turbine as opposed to the lighter model developed for Astana. Küng also brings his custom 3D-printed Ti extensions, EvolveAero TroikaMax+ tri-spoke front wheel, and MET Drone helmet across from last season’s TT setup.Astana Qazaqstan are another Wilier riding team in the World Tour this season and choose Wilier’s Turbine SLR with shallower aero profiles designed to reduce the overall weight of the time trial bike, as ridden here by Christian Scaroni.Is it the rider or the kit? Jan Christen of UAE Team Emirates looks fast even if he clearly hasn’t got the full aero treatment with custom Sync Ergonomics extensions and Aerocoach wheels a la his team leaders. Colnago’s “interpretation” of the bottle integration rules upset some and inspired others, no doubt someone at Colnago is tearing their hair out at the sight of Christen then not using it on race day. Nils Politt is new at Team UAE and already looks fast. He does get the Aerocoach wheel setup, and the aero bottle, but no Sync extensions as of yet. Isaac Del Toro is only in his second month as a pro but he has already made headlines by winning a stage of Tour Down Under and looks set for even bigger things in the near future. UAE clearly believes and his TT setup reflects this belief as Del Toro donned all the fast kit including profiled extensions on his way to fourth in the time trial. As for what those extensions are, they appear to be a new adjustable option from Enve, although it is the first time we have seen them.While we have already highlighted the perils of analysing positions from race photos, it is interesting to at least look at teammates setups and, to some extent, compare their base positions. Unlike Tom Pidcock, Sergio Higuita of Bora-Hansgrohe proves shorter riders can make TT positions look good.While his teammate Bob Jungels’ position hasn’t changed much in the past decade or so. That said, as good as it once looked, it now looks dated and dare I say it … slow.Meanwhile, Max Schachmann’s Wattshop adjustable riser and extension plates may indicate he is still working on his position compared to Jungels’s fixed position custom extensions, and, at least from this photo, there is work to be done. And while it is entirely unfair to compare anyone to Remco Evenepoel, let’s do it anyway with Mikel Landa, seen here adopting a road-bike like upright position.His World Champion teammate Remco Evenepoel, with the seemingly identical kit, bar the front wheel, and the not-so-small difference of a 62-tooth chain ring, is visibly more aerodynamic. For all the tech advancements, it’s still the rider that makes the difference.
As for that 62-tooth 1X chainring, the benefits for Remco are obvious on a course featuring so many fast and false flat downhills. The bigger chainring would allow the World Champion to either push a bigger gear, or push the same-sized gear (compared to his usual 58- or 60-tooth chainring) but using a larger sprocket on the rear and avoiding the smallest 11 sprocket which in turn would result in a straighter chain line and some drivetrain efficiency gains. Note the DIY cutout in the chainring just to have it fit the R92000P crankset with its power pod on the inside of the drive-side crank. Tao Geoghegan Hart, now of Lidl-Trek, with the picture-perfect TT position. Who knows if it’s fast or optimal, but it sure looks good. There’s a more interesting reason for including his new setup in this gallery, though. Geoghegan Hart is new to Lidl-Trek, but clearly, the team and rider have already been optimising his time trial position, as evidenced by the SpeedBar aero extensions and the blanked-out Giro Aerohead helmet. Trek don’t make a TT helmet, and as such, the riders have free choice of which TT helmet to use. Rather than pick any helmet and apply it to every rider, the team has tested to find the fastest helmet for it’s fastest riders. Some have the Aerohead.Others, like Jasper Stuyven, wear an MET drone …While some choose the POC Tempor. It’s not clear if Lidl-Trek tested every rider and each rider is using the fastest possible setup, but what is clear is that no one time trial helmet will prove optimal for an entire team of riders. Time trial helmets are highly rider-dependent; a helmet that tests fast for one rider may test slow on another. Lidl-Trek is one of the only teams maximising aerodynamics by using different helmets for different riders.
