Giro, the helmet manufacturer, has insisted it "plays by the rules" after the UCI announced a review into time trial helmets, a move seemingly triggered by the launch of the new Giro Aerohead II.
In a post on Instagram on Wednesday evening, Giro revealed that the UCI had authorised the prototype of the Aerohead II to be used in racing in 2024, in October 2023. Crucially, the letter says: "The authorisation is thus provisional and may be amended or withdrawn at any time."
The Giro helmet was named by the UCI alongside the POC Tempor, and the Rudy Project Windgream HL 85 as helmets that would fit under the review; the "head sock" which accompanies Specialized's TT5 helmet is to be banned from 2 April.
A UCI spokesperson said earlier this week that the helmets "may not directly contravene existing UCI Regulations" but "raise[s] a significant issue concerning the current and wider trend in time trial helmet design... which focuses more on performance than the primary function of a helmet, namely to ensure the safety of the wearer in the event of a fall."
In response to the impending review, Giro wrote on Instagram: "We design for sport. Sport has rules. We play by the rules."
Speaking to Cycling Weekly this week, columnist and legal expert Dr Michael Hutchinson - who previously taught law at Sussex and Cambridge Universities, and holds a doctorate in law from Cambridge - said he would not be surprised if the saga ended up in court.
"If the UCI approved the Aerohead II, and it has been prototyped, put into production, and used... I think you would be looking at your legal options, I wouldn't be amazed if this ended up in court," he said. "To be honest, if anyone made a threat to sue the UCI properly, it would probably back down. Would you really want to spend money on that? They will likely announce it's banned from the end of the year or something."
Hutchinson said that he thought that the reason for the review was for "aesthetic reasons."
"I'm not sure they'll present this as being about safety, because if these helmets have passed the safety standards, they will end up in a funny position," he said. "I think they will come up with some slightly woolly phrase about 'not in the best interests of the development of the sport', and they'll define a new way that helmets have to be.
"Until the next time someone does something interesting. It's almost like a philosophical thing, do you create a set of rules in which people are allowed to innovate, or are you always trying to police the sport to make it the way you want it to be."
A spokesperson for Visma-Lease a Bike said earlier this week that a lot of "time, money and energy" had gone into this project, within the UCI rules.
"There's an unfairness to this for Visma and Giro, because they've spent their R&D budget developing this," Hutchinson said. "If they knew this would be banned, they would have developed something else. It's not just putting effort into this, it's the opportunity cost of not being able to do something else."
In response to the ban placed on the Specialized TT5 helmet, the American company said it was "disappointed".
"After 18 months of racing, the UCI has informed us of their decision to ban the headsock feature that is manufactured on the current TT5," Alex Jerome, leader of helmets at the brand, said. "Specialized is disappointed in this decision as it greatly impacts our riders and teams that have spent a significant amount of time preparing with the equipment that was UCI approved.
"We’ll continue pushing the boundaries of innovation to support our athletes with the highest performing product possible."
World time trial champion Remco Evenepoel, who rides for the Specialized-sponsored Soudal Quick-Step, said the decision was "laughable".
"Two years ago, they authorised our helmet, and now they’re taking it out," he told Sporza. "I kind of feel like they want to play with our balls. It's not very friendly what they're doing. There are other teams that are almost riding with a time trial helmet in the peloton. I’m thinking of EF Education-EasyPost. They’re dragging cycling into the ridiculous and they’re making all the riders turn against the UCI."
Giro was contacted for further comment.
