«The bad thing is that now one will not be able to use the helmet with which he did all the tests and with which he won the world championship, the others will not change anythingAnd given that the Tour will be played, then maybe the Olympics and the World Championships, I don't think it's very fair. In fact, I'd say it makes me really... angry."
When you've been a time trialist and then become an ambassador for various companies, it's easy to understand what it means to suddenly be denied the use of a component you'd studied and invested in. So when Adriano Malori He addresses the issue of time trial helmets that were first authorized and then denied, and has an easily understandable sense of annoyance.He, who built his fame on time trials, went through the phase of helmets... fake, built solely for aerodynamics. But then he saw the arrival of safe and even fast ones. The latest step, with the ban on the Specialized helmet and the questioning of those made by EF, Bahrain, and Visma, really doesn't sit well with him.
Let's start with the Specialized helmet, which was banned. Did you like it?
It's not so much a matter of taste, although I think that the decision after the Tirreno time trial was dictated only by the comments of certain fans who judge appearance rather than substance. In these areas, it should be a useful thing, and they are certain it is needed. They did their tests, although like everything in this field, it all depends on the athlete's position. For Remco (Evenepoel, in the opening photo, ed.) it certainly works. He has the ability to maintain the aerodynamic position and therefore, given that holds his head as it should and the air flows from the chin area to the neckThe system works. If, on the other hand, we take Vlasov, who holds his head high to look ahead, then the usefulness of that strange headset becomes less important. How they managed to use it in 40-degree heat is their own business...
Strange that they first approved it and then banned it.
As I was saying, it almost seems like the latest ones seen at Tirreno have put them into question because people have made strange comments. Because they, the UCI, had actually authorized them in advance, due to the fact that they had to race with the same materials that can be found on the market.The funny thing is that there are UCI officials at the start of every time trial. If they said Vingegaard could race with that helmet and that Bahrain could use it, I don't understand why the UCI is now saying it wants to reopen the case.
A helmet should be a safety device only, right?
The rules say this, but I don't think companies would put out helmets that don't protect the athlete. Absolutely not. Imagine on a commercial level, touch wood, What would happen if Vingegaard fell and cracked his head because his helmet didn't hold the impact? It would be a mortal blow for whoever produces it; they wouldn't sell a single helmet anymore. I remember that years ago, when I was still racing, they made time trial models with the shell without the polystyrene inside: do you remember? It was 2008 or 2009 and among other things... I still have the helmet I wore to win the U23 World Cup in my studio, and it has no protection inside. It only has two pads.In that case, it would have been right to ban it. But given the helmets in question, I find it illogical that they want to stop them. It's like the weight of bicycles and every other development...
That means?
Let's take an example. In MotoGP there are bikes that are machines like Formula OneThey have spoilers and wings, so much so that to purists they don't even look like motorcycles anymore. But it seems to me that development is still progressing. So why do you have to prohibit a tool that helps performance without compromising safety? The idea of making it accessible to everyone is upheld, because I don't think a helmet like this will be prohibitively expensive. A time trial helmet costs the same as a road helmet. Instead theUCI she moved to show everyone that they are in chargeAnd things remain unresolved with the issue of the bicycle's weight...
The famous 6,8 kilos…
A limit that is now more than 20 years old, perhaps 25. I wasn't a professional yet (Adriano turned professional in 2010, ed.) and that rule already existed.Now there are bicycles with disc brakes, scary materials, and new studies, as we saw for example with Ganna for the Hour Record. Why would a company invest if it always has that limit? And even if I were an amateur and wanted it lighter, competing in some international cross-country ski race, I'd be liable to disqualification. And then the search stops, and that's not a good thing.
Put yourself in the mind of Remco for a moment, who did all the wind tunnel testing to get a margin with that case, how would you feel now that they've taken it away from you?
I'd get pissed off. As if when I was racing for Movistar and our Canyon was a crazy time trial bike, someone would come and forbid me to use it., after I'd raced and won on them for a year. These are steps I don't understand; safety isn't involved. Time trials should be the testing ground for research. Companies don't make much money with those bikes; they don't sell many of them, right? Pinarello makes a frame at Scandio for the Hour record, studies it, the record comes and gets a nice image of it. Logically, if the study is stopped, everything falls apart.
Is it the same with helmets?
And the same thing happens with helmets. Time trial helmets should be a good place for study and development, because that's what road helmets are anyway. In fact, if I may say so, they get in the way of the time trials and then allow the EF to race on the road with a time trial helmetDid you see the one Bettiol wore to win the Milan-Turin? It's a helmet women also use on the road, but that's essentially a time trial helmet. You know what bothers me?
What?
They did less fuss about putting discs on road bikes in competition, which are blades that spinI remember the case of Ventoso, who was racing with me and which they covered up. Fran tore up his knee because of a disc, but Behind the helmets there are not the same interests that were behind the records. And then it all explains, because in the end it's a question of power and money. And the riders are in the middle.
