'World's fastest' cycling helmets to debut at Tour de France

JIM PLOUFFE FROM "THE LEAD SOUTH AUSTRALIA"  tell us about a new helmet for the TDF.

A NEW helmet – touted as the fastest in road cycling - will make its pro tour debut at the 2016 Tour de France on the heads of ORICA-GreenEDGE riders.

The Scott Cadence Plus was developed by researchers at the University of Adelaide in South Australia and is streamlined to ensure less drag and increase ventilation.

Project Leader Richard Kelso said that from an aerodynamics perspective, the Scott Cadence Plus performed better than any of the other leading helmets on the market.

“It’s faster because of its shape. The materials are extremely smooth and are moulded to produce surface details that help to control the airflow and that is one of the secrets that help make it a very low drag helmet,” he said.

“It’s a premium helmet, high-level safety, excellent performance - It definitely adds an extra element of comfort...

“Against some of the top helmets it could provide about a 0.2 metres advantage but against some other high quality helmets you can even get a larger distance of up to two metres. If you want to cut your drag it’s a brilliant way of doing it.”

The helmets have been trialled by Australian cycling team ORICA-GreenEDGE, which includes explosive sprinter Caleb Ewan , four-time Tour Down Under winner Simon Gerrans, experienced tour campaigner Daryl Impey and South Australian rider Alex Edmondson.

They are also expected to be worn by riders at the Rio Olympics.

The Scott Cadence Plus features a unique double entry ventilation system with vents at the front and rear.

It is also designed to have small ridges on the top of the helmet to increase the aerodynamics of the helmet.

"Our goal was to produce a helmet design with the lowest drag possible, but also to ensure the rider's head is well cooled and, above-all, well protected," Assoc Prof Kelso said.

“Our research showed that you didn’t need to have vents all over. If you had good-sized vents at the front, back and good-sized ducts inside you not only get good cooling, in fact you get better cooling – you have more flow through to the back.

“It’s got a high level of safety. It’s got the MIPS (Multi Directional Impact Protection System) layer inside and that reduces the effect of impact and the acceleration of your brain when you have a large impact. It is a helmet that could potentially keep you alive when many others can’t.”

The Cadence Plus and Centric Plus helmets were tested at the University of Adelaide’s wind tunnel facility using a full-sized mannequin and heated mannequin head.

The helmets are products of Swiss company Scott Sports and will go on sale later this year.

Scott Sports Senior Product Manager John Thompson said the company had a strong partnership with the University of Adelaide team, which had been instrumental in developing successful cycling products for the Swiss corporation.

"We couldn’t be more proud and excited to be delivering these new helmets to our athletes and to have Associate Professor Kelso and the team at the University of Adelaide on our side,” he said.

"Our goal was to deliver the very best performance advantage to our professional road and mountain bike racers.

"The results speak for themselves, with both new helmets exceeding our expectations and outperforming the competition in controlled wind tunnel testing.”

THANK YOU JIM for providing us with this interesting tip.

Fueling a champion: what Orica GreenEdge feeds Tour Down Under race winner Simon Gerrans during a race

Interview with Orica GreenEdge soigneur about what riders eat during the stage.Author James Raison & Credit Photos to Chris Komorek,EcoCaddy.

Danny Clarke

Seven hours before Simon Gerrans won Stage 4 of the Tour Down Under in South Australia, his soigneur Danny Clarke was hard at work preparing food for him and the rest of the Orica GreenEdge team to eat during and after the race.

It’s theoretically simple but logistically complex.

Danny starts by explaining exactly what is in the consistently wrapped foil packages he’s laid out.

He prods the largest packages containing rye bread sandwiches.

“That’s walnut and philly (Philadelphia cream cheese) spread, and this is philly with ham,” he says, before moving down to the smaller ones marked ‘sweet’.

“Those are orange and poppyseed cakes.”

On the bench next to him is an enormous slab of savoury rice cake ready to be sliced and wrapped

“That’s just ham, Arborio rice to make it sticky, and some soy sauce,” says Danny, handing me a slice of the chewy and mildly salty cake.

The sweet rice cakes sound a bit more palatable.

“They have cranberries, sultanas, honey and condensed milk to bring it all together.”

The food is simple but nutritious. The texture is important too, riders have to be able to chew and swallow it during the race.

“I alternate sweet and savoury rice cakes every day,” says Danny.

“One batch will last me two days, so the riders think I’m cooking them a different flavour every day, but I’m just alternating them,” he laughs.

The wrapping has been as carefully chosen as the ingredients.

“This paper has come from somewhere in Germany,” says Danny. “I don’t know what they do with it, but we use it for wrapping race food,”

It looks like tinfoil with a thin paper on one side and it is so important that it travels with the team around the world.

Danny lays out the full contents of a musette: two sandwiches, a sweet rice cake, a savoury rice cake, two gels, and two water bottles. Each musette will feed one rider for the stage and Danny personally hands the bag over to the team in the feed zone.

Post-race food is being prepared too, but unlike at other tours, the riders have the luxury of eating it back at the tour village in the middle of Adelaide because the stages all finish close to the city.

It’s a precise mix to take care of all the riders’ post-race needs.

“First they get a protein shake straight off the bike,” says Danny. “Then a couple of water bottles. “

Thirty minutes later they are fed meat and salad sandwiches, then an extra carb snack, he explains pointing to his slab of rice cake again.

The Orica GreenEdge team won four of six stages of the Tour Down Under, and Simon Gerrans took overall victory and the points classification. That phenomenal success is built on the efforts of unsung helpers like Danny Crke.

Jay McCarthy escapes late crash, takes the stage and the Ochre Jersey at the Tour Down Under.

STAGE 2 REPORT FROM JAMES RAISON in Australia at the TDU.

Photo credit: Santos Tour Down Under / Regallo

Stage2a-Australian Jay McCarthy(Tinkoff) beats Italian Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) on the Staging Connections Stage 2 finish line.

“I definitely have the chance to go for the GC this week” says Stage 2 winner Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff) who avoided the chaos of a late crash to take the Ochre jersey.

The second stage of the Tour Down Under (TDU) rolled out of Unley, just 2km from the Adelaide CBD, before heading into the eastern hills for five laps of a 21km loop through the towns of Heathfield, Mylor, Aldgate and finishing in Stirling. Ahead were 132kms, over 3000 metres (10,000 ft) ascending, and more 30°C+ temperatures.

Stage2c-Australian Jay McCarthy(Tinkoff) wears the Santos Ochre Leaders jersey

Manuele Boarro took the points on the KOM, and the jersey with it, at Range View Road after 13.8km.  He beat out current polka dot jersey wearer Patrick Lane (UniSA), and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal).

Orica GreenEdge then closed down the break immediately so they could lead out their GC man Simon Gerrans at the first sprint point. Gerrans took full points and bonus time ahead of teammate Caleb Ewan. Dimension Data’s Reinhardt Janse Van Rensburg crossed third.

Peloton strongman Adam Hansen (Lotto-Soudal) then threw caution to the wind and soloed away from the field in the post-sprint lull. 

Stage2d-Lampre-Merida rider Tsgabu Grmay meets the local wildlife

The second sprint point was taken by the solo Hansen, with an aggressive Gerrans second, and Ewan third. The TDU is often won by a handful of seconds, so those efforts by the Orica GreenEdge duo could be crucial come the final on Sunday.

Orica GreenEdge again took pace making responsibility as they did on Stage 1, allowing Hansen to hover two minutes up the road.

Stage2e-Ochre Jersey wearer Caleb Ewan signs autographs for the fans at race start

The red BMC mist descended on the front of the bunch at 26km to go, protecting their two-headed climbing GC monster of Richie Porte and defending champ Rohan Dennis. 

Orica GreenEdge took control again at the final lap bell, swallowing up Adam Hansen 19km from home. 

Kiel Reijnan (Trek-Segafredo) made the save of the day as he flew off the road, brakes locked, with a double-puncture with 10km to go. It’d be a car convoy finish for the unlucky American.

Fans at the start line

The lead of the race became hotly contested territory with Giant Alpecin, Trek-Segafredo, and Tinkoff joined forced to string out the bunch. Dimension Data sprinters Tyler Farrar and Mark Renshaw were among the big names sliding off the back. 

Sky swarmed to the front and lifted the tempo again, causing race leader Ewan to drop off the back. Ewan knew before the stage that he “can’t go through the whole tour wearing Ochre” but rode valiantly until conceding.

The race start at Unley

The Sky lads dropped back soon after, replaced by Cannondale Pro Cycling Team, Giant-Alpecin, then Lampre-Merida.

A touch of wheels between an Astana rider and Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) caused a crash at 800m from the line, bringing down several riders including Simon Gerrans, and disrupting many others. Tinkoff and Cannondale took advantage and pushed on the front. 

Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) was the first to open the uphill sprint. The Italian looked like he’d take the stage but young Jay McCarthy Aussie ground him down before winning with a bike throw. Defending champ Rohan Dennis (BMC) avoided the chaos to finish third.

The peloton on the look-out for Kangaroos

After the stage McCarthy revealed he “had an eye on this stage”. 

“This year I knew I was in really good shape,” he said of his aspirations.

Dennis was another beneficiary of the chaos but said he hoped Gerrans can come back. 

“I hope the crash doesn’t hinder Simon (Gerrans), because no one wants to win like that,” Dennis said.

Solo breakaway rider Adam Hansen gets a tyre change

Gerrans was realistic after the stage. 

“It’s a shame to lose time bonuses, because a second counts for a lot in this race,”  he said. There’s plenty of reason for optimism, Gerrans efforts chasing intermediate sprint bonuses leave him in third spot in the GC. 

McCarthy was also realistic about the hard yards ahead.  

“Now I have to go back, recover for Corkscrew. There’s plenty more work ahead of us.”

Stage 3 begins by the seaside at Glenelg, 12km south of Adelaide, and finishes in the Adelaide suburb of Campeltown. The stage could be decisive with Corkscrew road guaranteed to blow apart the race.

What were they thinking?

The non-Orica-GreenEdge teams with GC hopes were caught out twice letting Gerrans and Ewan take the sprint bonus seconds. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Great job Orica-GreenEdge, that tactical nous could see you win the TDU.

Adam Hansen Lotto-Soudal,was the Alpecin Most Competitive Rider of the day

Stats:

Santos Tour Down Under Classification Leaders after Staging Connections Stage 2 

•                Santos Ochre Leader’s Jersey - Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff)

•                iiNet Sprint Jersey - Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge)

•                Subaru King of the Mountain Jersey - Manuele Boaro (Tinkoff)

•                Alpecin Most Competitive Rider - Adam Hansen (Lotto Soudal)

•                Wilson Parking Winning Team Competition - Cannondale Pro Cycling

Thank you James and "THE LEAD SOUTH AUSTRALIA".

SD TEAM

Anything but a “cruise” in the park , coverage of the TDU 2016

Morning everyone,

This is from James Raison reporting back to us from the Tour of Down Under 2016.

People’s Choice Classic criterium kicks off a week of Tour Down Under racing in Adelaide, South Australia

“Just cruising around with my team, and when the hard part started, I just moved up the front and I think we did the job perfectly.”

Caleb Ewan’s assessment of his emphatic victory of the 30 lap, 51km People’s Choice Classic criterium around the eastern Adelaide parklands oozes a relaxed confidence in himself and his team. 

Ewan (Orica GreenEdge), emblazoned in the green and gold of the Australian National criterium champion, timed his final sprint to perfection. Just 50 metres from the line he split a gap between Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) and Adam Blythe (Tinkoff), leading the 2 home in that order. It’s easy to forget Ewan is just 21 years old with such a patient, well-timed sprint.

The field in Caleb’s wake looked neither casual nor relaxed.

“A bit of a shock to the system,” said Geraint Thomas.

From the gun, Astana sprinted from the line with three riders, including former Tour Down Under winner and GC contender Luis Leon Sanchez. The People’s Choice Classic is normally a lock for a bunch sprint finish, but that didn’t deter the Kazakh squad.

The main action for the first phase of the race was focused around four intermediate sprints on laps 5, 10, 15, and 20 that rewarded the first man over the line with 500euros. The first sprint went to Reinhardt Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data) who caught the peloton unaware by crossing to the other side of the road before powering to the line. Young Australian Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff) took the second sprint after a short break off the front, Chris Hamilton (UniSA) soloed for the third, and the final went to Manuele Boaro (Tinkoff) who attacked from a break group of three.

The main field spent much of the race controlled by Orica GreenEdge and Team Sky, apart from the occasional interruption caused by the intermediate sprints.  The final 10 laps saw the Sky men-in-black string out the peloton with brutal pacemaking from Geraint Thomas and British National Road Racing Champion Peter Kennaugh.

The final two laps were hectic as the sprint trains fought for tarmac to deliver their fast men. Orica GreenEdge looked vulnerable as their line was whittled down to just Daryl Impey and Caleb Ewan. Cannondale Pro Cycling Team, and IAM Cycling had been invisible for the whole race but swamped the decimated GreenEdge line in the final lap. IAM led through the final turn but it was Trek-Segafredo’s Nizzolo who opened his sprint first. The diminutive Ewan overhauled the comparatively giant Nizzolo before punching the air in celebration as he crossed the line.

The young Australian is “delighted for the victory... [but] this is only the start of a long week.”

The win was a mirror of the Santos Women’s Tour crit held in the afternoon heat hours before on the same circuit. Annette Edmondson, returning to her hometown of Adelaide, road to victory with the help of her Wiggle Hi5 team. She tucked in safely in the centre of the pack for the 19 laps before teammate Chloe Hosking led her out Edmondson on the final lap.

Stage 1 of the Tour Down Under kicks off on Tuesday with a 130km stage from the Adelaide suburb of Prospect to the town of Lyndoch in the Barossa Valley wine region. Ewan will be one of the favourites on the flat stage with a slightly downhill sprint finish. South Australian summer will hit the field hard with 38°C forecast. Ewan is unfazed by the heat, feeling that “us Australians are more used to it than Europeans who came from winter.”

 What were they thinking?

Team Sky rode the People’s Choice Classic criterium as if the maillot jaune was at stake rather than prize money. Geraint Thomas, one of the Tour Down Under favourites, was closing gaps as early as lap 4, and spent more time on the front than any other rider in the last 10 laps. Why?

“I was at the front to help Swifty [Ben Swift],” Geraint explains. “We hit the front early, and we knew we were never going to make it from that far out, but Swifty got an easy ride.”

Swifty, you owe Geraint a beer mate, and at least 1 “easy ride” before the Tour Down Under is over.

Wiggle Women Team

Thank you James again for the amazing reportage back from Australia.

For you all in UK have a good day and good night for our riders.

SD TEAM