It appeared the team were leaving no stone unturned in their quest for maximum speed. Van Aert was active in the race, but finished off the podium in the main bunch.
The Aerohead has been in the Giro helmet range for several years and received an update ahead of Tirreno-Adriatico last year, which caused the cycling world to have something of a meltdown due to its sheer size and extreme shape.
Van Aert and his teammates have been using the older Aerohead 1.0 helmet, which uses a removable visor. It’s an older model and is technically a time trial helmet, but its user-friendly shape makes it an option for road use. It's still available on the Giro website.
Van Aert has been spotted in the helmet at a few races already this year and decided to wear it at Omloop on Saturday. He rolled out at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne the next day, however, in a regular road helmet.
Van Aert and his teammates seemed to be wearing two different versions of the helmet, with the Belgian's vented and painted in his Red Bull sponsors' livery whilst some of his teammates' yellow helmets were not. The non-vented version of the helmet is the older Aerohead Ultimate MIPS helmet, which was apparently faster but lost the side vents.
Team members wearing the older Giro Aerohead time trial helmets for their Omloop recon (Image credit: David Pintens Contributor)
Why wear an older helmet?
Why use the technically older helmets? Well, it may not come as too much of a surprise but they are apparently just a faster option on some courses. Van Aert has shown he isn't afraid of going after every possible technical advantage, as shown by his double-disc wheel use at the Paris Olympics.
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We asked Visma-Lease a Bike for comment, and the team explained that the helmets had tested faster in some scenarios, so it made sense to use them where they are a permitted option.
"We tested, and in some cases it is much faster," a spokesperson for the team said.
"It depends on the course; some ride with it, some don't. We started using them in Oman, then UAE, Algarve and now Omloop."
A course, the wind direction and even individual riders' body shapes may well dictate if the Aerohead is the fastest. One thing is for sure, if WorldTour pros can use something to make them faster, they will.
Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.
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