Tour de France teams go aero for Monday's expected bunch sprint

Bram Tankink and new Giro helmet, Tour de France 2012, stage one recce ride

published 2 July 2012

Several of the key sprinters teams in the 2012 Tour de France turned up at the start line of Monday's stage two complete with aerodynamic helmets.

There has been a trend over the past season of riders sporting covers over the air vents in their helmets, as well as using skinsuits and more aerodynamic road bikes, such as the Specialized Venge and Cervelo S5.

Teams are fighting for every scrap of advantage over other squads as they lead out their sprinters in the most efficient way possible. As the lead-out trains form up, the sprinters shelter behind their men lined-up in front of them, slipstreaming to build up maximum velocity with minimum effort before launching themselves to the line. Paying attention to equipment details can add up to an aerodynamic advatage over other teams. That's the theory...

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Tour de France teams go aero for Monday's expected bunch sprint

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