Contador And Giro At Epsilon For An Advanced Wind Tunnel Testing Session

With its characteristic pursue of new innovative challenges, EPSILON's Technology Innovation Centre hosted an aerodynamic test, in its wind tunnel facility, for the cycling helmet brand GIRO and its revolutionary helmet for timed stages "Time Trial", which is being used in the current edition of the "Tour de France". The person responsible for such important test could be no other than Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador, "Triple Crown" holder after having won the three grand tours of the cycling international circuit: "Tour de France" (2007 and 2009), "Giro de Italia" (2008) and "Vuelta a España" (2008).

Alberto Contador Credit: Epsilon Euskadi

The reason why GIRO came to EPSILON to test their helmets was because a wind tunnel is the ideal facility to provide accurate measurements of drag. Reducing drag improves speed and this is ultimately the objective of an aerodynamic study, it doesn't matter if it is a helmet or a racing car.

The importance of a helmet over the whole is around a 25%, which turns aerodynamics into important factor to be taken into account. A helmet can be fast by itself but the most important is to test it simulating, as close as possible, the real conditions: with a cyclist on a riding position, pedaling and facing front but also lateral winds. And this is what was done throughout the nearly six hours the test lasted for.

A special rotary table was built for the occasion to both hold the bike onto it and also to be able to change the bike's angle consequently varying the air's angle of incidence over the rider and the helmet. Two screens were also placed on the analysis section floor in which Alberto was able to check his position on the bike, and adapt it if necessary, as well as other numeric parameters.

Alberto Contador tested several helmets at different speeds to better evaluate the performances of each one of them.

Preliminary analysis of the results was satisfactory to Len Brownlie, the aerodynamicist responsible for the test, and also Jean-Paul Mosnier, Chuck Platt and Chris Bullock, Giro representatives at the test. GIRO, based in Scotts Valley, California, is a worldwide leader in high-performance protective gear and accessories for action sports and active lifestyles. With aerodynamic helmets for pro cyclists as one of their leading products, GIRO counts the Garmin, Rabobank and Astana Teams among their Pro Tour clients.

Alberto Contador - Astana Team: "Last year i went to Boston and San Diego for testing and this wind tunnel is just as good as those others or even better. Epsilon's tunnel is a lot more modern and totally up-to-date. The fact of being able to visualize your position, as well as other parameters, while riding helps a lot. Especially to be totally aware of your position, whether you are fully fit or not, as well as to be able to correct or adapt it according to the needs. This test's objective was to try different helmet options Giro's people have prepared and see which one is the fastest and has the best aerodynamics in order to scratch those little differences that are so important in competition and especially in timed stages, where the difference between winning or losing can be less than a second. It all helps and the helmet is a very important accessory for a cyclist. Therefore, I hope conclusions would be positive and we could benefit from it in the Tour de France."

Jean-Paul Mosnier - GIRO European Sports Marketing Manager: "The objective of this test was to evaluate the performance of the different helmets and different solutions we had prepared. And the reason for it was that we wanted to provide Alberto and the other riders with the best solution possible, the fastest helmet, for the Tour de France. Giro is all about the product's performances but also the design. It is really important that we offer the best to our athletes. The test went pretty well and the results, first glimpse, looked promising. This is a high-class tunnel and great professionals. Everything went smooth and we collected a fair amount of data that, hopefully, will provide us with enough information to choose among the different options."

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