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Just 48 hours after the Women’s WorldTour season opener came to a conclusion on Willunga Hill, the men’s top-tier racing got underway today with stage 1 of the Santos Tour Down Under.
Escape Collective is on the ground this week and although expectations were low for new tech given a number of teams are still using last year’s bikes, the stage 1 start paddock did not disappoint.
In part one of our Tour Down Under tech galleries, we bring you some of the new and unreleased tech from the men’s WorldTour opener.
Day one of the men’s WorldTour did not disappoint with a new POC aero road helmet amongst the first things we encountered. The helmet, as modelled so wonderfully by Harry Sweeney of EF-EasyPost, is very akin to POC’s Procen and presumably brings the same Venturi effect aero claims to a road-specific helmet. The Venturi effect is a drop or change in pressure as fluid (air in this case) flows through a constricted channel. With the Procen TT helmet, POC claimed the three large vents reduce the high-pressure zone at the front of the helmet, enabling an accelerated airflow through the inner channels, exhausting excess heat with it out the rear ports where the Venturi effect low-pressure air can improve airflow over the back and shoulders. Presumably this new road helmet adopts a similar philosophy looking to maximise aerodynamics and cooling in one package. Kask says ear covers … POC says “hold my beer”The helmet features these ports at the rear which differ from the single large port at the rear of the Procen.The visor is detachable with a rear mounting option.Aero helmet, aero suit. Sweeney might have seemed a good bet for today’s breakaway as he set off with the new aero helmet and the Rapha TT inspired race suit. Ineos has Kask’s new helmet at the Tour Down Under. First spotted earlier this month, the ear-covering helmet made waves and memes the world over. While Kask hasn’t yet provided any details on the new helmet, we do now know it’s named the “Nirvana.”It also features Kask’s 3D-printed Mutlipod internal padding from the Elemento helmet released last year. Kask claims Multipod’s unique design also improves ventilation, thus increasing the helmet’s thermoregulation capabilities and also aids the helmet in better withstanding linear and rotational impacts.The Nirvana also features an exhaust port-like rear vent. When the new helmets are officially launched, expect to hear similar aerodynamic and cooling philosophies from both Kask and POC. It seems Look has a new Keo on the way. The body on this Keo Blade seems wider than the existing model and features a smoother underside.There’s seemingly a minor change to the pedal platform also. Not a new pedal, but Movistar has moved across to Time pedals for 2024. Having deep-dived into head tube profiles theorising what the head tube tells us about a bike’s aero performance, the head tube to down tube and top tube interface on Archie Ryan’s size 44 caught my eye. Cannondale SuperSix Evo creates a much deeper-looking profile than those on large SSE frames. It was hot ahead of the stage 1 start. Many teams were employing various methods of keeping riders cool but it was only EF I saw trying to keep the handlebars from turning into mini radiators. Trek has some new and particularly interesting-looking new shoes in the works. The shoes feature a knit construction and despite looking like a close relative of the S-Works Ares, a closer look at the new Trek shoes suggests the designers have focused more on weight reduction than foot retention. Think climber shoe rather than the sprinter shoe the Ares was described as. While the knit construction should reduce overall weight, in combination with these eyelet-like openings in the retention strap, the shoes strike me as potentially a nice option for those with bunions or bony extrusions on their feet.Interestingly, the new shoes are a further addition to the recently expanding range of Trek softgoods as the Bontrager names disappears from the company’s performance shoe and helmet offerings. That knit construction may prove difficult to keep clean. It seems Trek will also update Bontrager’s XXX road shoes, more of an all-rounder type offering. If this is a new XXX, it features a similar-looking microfibre upper but with more perforation for cooling and is perhaps a little more supple judging by these photos. The other obvious update is the inclusion of the newer BOA Li2 dial. This model features a more heel retention-focused heel design with a plastic heel cup and an Achilles-hugging upper section. These shoes also feature the Trek branding. Plus the same BOA Li2 dial.Franck Bonnamour’s Shimano’s are not new shoes, but he likes to keep them looking like new. Bora-Hansgrohe has switched to Hammerhead head units for 2024. Ben Zwiehoff of Bora-Hansgrohe was the only rider we spotted running 1X for stage one. Stephen Williams broke out the big chainring for stage one racing with this 55-tooth Vision TT ring.Someone at Visma-Lease a Bike has had the crockpot or drip wax out.SwissSide has been manufacturing wheels for a decade already, but their partnership with Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale for 2024 is their first entry into the WorldTour. We will have a feature gallery of AG2R’s new Van Rysel RCR bike in the coming days, and we also sat down with SwissSide’s founder and CEO for an extensive deep dive on all things aero and performance for an upcoming podcast. Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale also has the new Van Rysel FCR Aero Road Helmet. Launched in the middle of last year the helmet was developed in partnership with aerodynamic experts SwissSide. At £69.99, you’d be hard pressed to find a cheaper aero road helmet in a professional bike race.Decathlon claims the helmet was developed and tested in a wind tunnel, features an anatomical design, features five vents with three inner channels, weighs 290 grams for a size medium, and is long-hair-compatible.
