Wout van Aert appears to be considering using a front disc wheel in the Paris Olympic Games time trial on Saturday. He has been spotted in his Belgium team kit, training on his Cervélo P5 time trial bike, sporting double Reserve disc wheels.
This isn’t to say he will definitely be using the set-up in the 32.4km city-centre event in Paris – more likely it is a test of the water. Front discs can be notoriously difficult to control in crosswinds, and in the wrong conditions could end up costing the Belgian, who is a favourite for the event, more time than it gains him. He will be keeping a close eye on the weather forecast for the day.
If he does use twin disc wheels, he will be the first rider to do so at this level since Australian Shara Marche (née Gillow) in the London 2012 Olympics, where she was 13th.
Dr B Xavier Disley is an aero expert and the owner of Aerocoach – which works with WorldTour teams and sells its own front road disc.
“It does have to be a bit of a still day. But the faster you go, the more stable it gets,” Disley says of using a front disc. “Because basically, the faster you go, the less your effective crosswind is.”
Front discs are perfectly UCI legal, Disley confirms, though they are not permitted in triathlon or Cycling Time Trials events.
On the right day, a front disc could make the difference between winning and losing for Wout Van Aert, says Disley.
“Our front disc will save four watts at 50kph,” he says. “You would be looking at in the region of 10 to 15 seconds over the course of the Olympic TT.”
That would have been enough to promote Filippo Ganna from silver to gold medal position ahead of Remco Evenepoel in last year’s much longer World Championship time trial in Glasgow.
While this kind of performance data isn’t listed for the Reserve wheels that Van Aert will use, Disley agrees that it would be in a similar ball park.
“It’s not going to save you a minute, and it’s not going to be no different,” he says.
“The feedback we’ve had from pro riders that have used our disc is that it is eminently usable outside,” Disley says, “it is just that no one’s done it yet.
“There have certainly been a couple of scenarios where they should have used one. And there’s a couple of medals that have been lost at world level from people who had one, but haven’t used them.”
A Van Aert win on double discs could spark a trend in their use, predicts Disley, but could also, in turn, lead the UCI to examining its rulebook on the matter.
