When it comes to marginal gains, aero-tech remains a key battleground at the World Tour level. Rapid prototyping and improved access to simulations and testing technology are driving incremental advances that make professional cycling almost as difficult to keep up with as Formula 1 in terms of aerodynamic developments. It hasn’t yet matured to the extent that wings have developed winglets — perhaps thankfully — but races, and in-particular time trials, can be won or lost in the wind tunnel, and the new equipment that delivers these ever faster times is pushing cycling’s well-established aesthetic proclivities to their limits.
The reality is that whilst the shapes created are often challenging to look at, they work. The advantages can now even be tailored to not just the discipline (as we see in TT frames) but also to the specific needs and shapes of an individual. The Specialized TT5 helmet was primarily designed for Remco Evenepoel on the Soudal Quickstep team, for example.
