Thomas De Gendt has played down the significance of his spectacular tyre blowout in the UAE Tour, where the Belgian’s mishap and subsequent crash sparked a wealth of speculation over the potential risks of a hookless rim system for tyres.
Lotto-Dstny had already insisted that they were “100% within the rules” and that their wheel setup was entirely UCI-compliant. Manufacturer Zipp also issued a statement saying that the impact with an object was to blame, rather than the rim and tyre combination.
