This year is no exception, with a number of technical changes – such as that the minimum overall width of handlebars is now 400 mm or that the gap between your brake levers must exceed 280 mm – that would interest only the sport’s nerds. The rest of us might be interested in a clarification of the difference between a road helmet and a time trial helmet.
Road and time trial helmets defined
Starting this year, road helmets must have at least three visible inlet vents, no ear coverage and no visor, while helmets that look and function like time trial casques will not be allowed in road races. Which means that some riders – e.g., Victor Campenaerts – will have to find some other favourite helmet if their current head coverings are found to be too much like time trial helmets.
This is important because wind tunnel tests of 40 helmets carried out by Cyclingnews found that – no real surprise – at 40 km/h, the three time trial helmets in the test were the fastest of the lot, and were around 3 watts faster than the best ‘aero’ road helmet and 7 watts faster than an average helmet. In a bunch sprint, all other things being equal, that would be a decisive factor.
To clarify the new regulations, the UCI has adopted two helmet categories: traditional and time trial. The traditional, or road, helmets must have a minimum of three vents and must not cover the rider’s ears. The time trial helmet has no such restrictions, but can only be used for an individual time trial or a team time trial – and cannot be used in cyclo-cross.
There are also new regulations for roadside barriers, with the UCI mandating minimum requirements, including dimensions and how the barriers are connected to each other and secured on the road surface, to ensure that they are sturdy enough to withstand the impact of a rider crashing into them at speed.
Good news for Pro teams and multi-discipline cyclists
There is good news for Tom Pidcock and his Pinarello–Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team (as well as for Tudor Pro Cycling and relegated Cofidis) because starting this year, the top three ProTour teams in the previous season’s UCI Technical Rankings will receive automatic invitations to all UCI WorldTour stage races, including the Giro, Tour, and Vuelta. Race organisers still retain two wildcard slots that can be used for the best local teams.
And speaking of the Technical Rankings, beginning in 2027 results in other disciplines – such as cyclo-cross, track, and mountain biking – will contribute points to a team’s UCI ranking score. In other words, any and all points collected by, say, Mathieu van der Poel or Pauline Ferrand-Prévot in a cyclo-cross race will be added to the annual team ranking of, respectively, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Visma–Lease a Bike, if last year’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift winner decides to return to off-road racing. That should get UAE Team Emirates and Lidl-Trek (and other teams as well, of course) thinking about signing double- or triple-threat riders.
The rule applies only to the team ranking, not to individual road rankings, and only the top 20 men and top 8 women on a team can contribute these additional points. The points will be awarded according to a not-yet-specified points scale. This certainly benefits teams such as Alpecin-Deceuninck and Visma–Lease a Bike, who have riders who regularly compete in other disciplines and are able to pick up points without changing their road calendar.
Teams without that versatility will have to decide if they want to benefit from the new rule by having riders tackle gravel racing, for example. We might yet see Tadej Pogačar try his feet at gravel or cyclo-cross – but only after his road career is at or near its end and he has won all the races he had wished for. I’d certainly love to see that. On the other hand, this can have a negative effect on road race participation because off-road racing is rather accident-prone.
The latest example is Wout van Aert, who was using cyclo-cross to prepare for the spring Classics races but crashed in the snow during a cyclo-cross race in Mol on January 2 and broke his ankle. Following an operation, reports suggested that he would be out of training for only two or three weeks. However, an orthopaedic surgeon interviewed by L’Équipe said that this timeline was far too optimistic.
Returning to road training will take “around two months, and three for a full return to competition,” orthopaedic surgeon and trauma specialist Gilbert Versier said. “Cycling is a sport that does not involve full body weight-bearing, so returning to pedalling is a form of rehabilitation. A comeback for the Northern Classics and the Ardennes should be possible without problems.” But it is unlikely that van Aert could ride any preparatory races.
