UCI reevaluates TT helmets and threatens to ban crazy-looking Giro helmet

Well, it didn’t take long for the UCI (cycling’s governing body) to step in once they saw the outrageous looking helmet that the Visma | I Lease a Bike World Tour Team debuted on Monday. In a release yesterday, the organization announced that it would “carry out an in-depth analysis of the regulations governing the design and use of time trial helmets.”

Giro debuts wild looking futuristic new helmet – how long before we see one in a triathlon?

In the release, the UCI announced that the innovative “head sock” that was part of Specialized’s TT5 helmet will be banned as of April 2, 2024.

While the UCI didn’t specifically state that the new Giro helmet would be banned, it was mentioned, along with the Rudy Project Windgream HL 85 and Poc Temper helmets as ones that raise “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.”

The UCI says it will “undertake a review of its rules on the design and use of helmets in competition.”

How this will affect triathlon remains to be seen. While World Triathlon has incorporated many of the UCI’s bike design rules for draft-legal racing, bikes used for non-drafting events haven’t been required to follow those rules. Since triathletes tend to be on the bike for longer than most cyclists competing in a time trial, extreme helmet options with little air flow aren’t exactly popular in the sport, anyway.

We still want to see someone roll into transition armed with Giro’s new helmet, though. It might have to happen soon, though.