Fresh from a strong top 10 placing at Strade Bianche on Sunday, Wout van Aert, as well as his Visma Lease a Bike teammate Matteo Jorgensen, seemingly threw caution to the wind today by running double Reserve Infinity disc wheels for the opening time trial stage of Tirreno-Adriatico.Van Aert paired the wheels with a huge 1x aero chainring and the bulbous Giro Aerohead helmet, but the super aero combination wasn't enough to net either rider the stage victory and leader's jersey. The Belgian rider finished in 59th place, 1:10 down on eventual winner Filippo Ganna, though granted Van Aert may not have been going flat out. His teammate Jorgensen fared better and finished in 16th place, 44 seconds back on a rampaging Ganna. A single rear disc wheel is a common sight in pro time trial events, and the aerodynamic rear wheels are most usually paired with a deep-section or perhaps tri-spoke front wheel. The use of a front disc wheel, however, whilst common for indoor track events, is highly unusual on the road, and double discs have not been seen much in pro road time trials for several decades. The generally accepted wisdom is that the completely solid nature of the front wheel impacts front-end handling and inertia, whilst also making the bike more susceptible to strong gusts of wind, already a factor when a rider is using tri bars.Ultimately, it seems that the potential risks and handling issues created by a double disc setup outweigh any available performance advantage for most.It seems that Van Aert is definitely confident using the setup, and after a dramatic outing two years ago at the Paris Olympics using the combination, he decided to do the same again today. The use of the wheels in today's event may also be a test run for other events this year that the Belgian is targeting.
