With the Tour de France just days away, teams and sponsors are continuing to roll out new equipment try and give them any edge they can on the competition. For INEOS Grenadiers, that means a new time trial suit from clothing partner, Gobik. The new suit, dubbed “Singularity 2.0”, will play a key role on Stage 7 and possibly the final stage into Nice for the Grand Finish.
Designing anything with an aerodynamic focus is a challenge. For cyclist, we ride at a range of speeds and the wind will never hit you from the same direction the entire ride. The challenge is always in finding the perfect compromises to maximize the benefits across a range of conditions. Gobik it taking it a step further to see how they can create a suit that maximizes the ability to adapt to the conditions within the race.
Since becoming a technical sponsor for INEOS Grenadiers, Gobik has worked with the team and their technical staff to create functional kit that provides the highest level of performance for the team. The Singularity 2.0 went through 30 different prototypes throughout the season to create the final product in time for the 2024 Tour de France. Designs were tested in wind tunnels and ion the road, resulting in 2-5% improvements, which are significant at the pro level, especially in the time trial. Throughout testing, Gobik technical staff was on site working with team staff and riders, with further refinement coming from weekly review meetings of the technical staffs. The final product became a custom suit designed to fit each rider individually.
“Partnering with Gobik has been a natural fit. Using their expertise and technical textiles knowledge has allowed us to create something unique that delivers results,” explains Scott Drawer, Performance Director at Team INEOS Grenadiers.” True innovation happens when both parties see the challenge and combine their knowledge to come up with something better. This only happens through regular and thorough communication, true partnerships working and both teams striving for excellence.”
While Carlos Rodriguez will be the team leader, INEOS Grenadiers will have a top squad of time trialists, including World Champion Filippo Ganna and national champions Joshua Tarling, Tobias Foss, and Magnus Sheffield. With the first time trial pretty early in the Tour, the team will be looking to make a big impact in the team standings so they can focus on overall support for Rodriguez. At the Giro d’Italia, four of the five top riders were from INEOS Grenadiers using the previous version of the suit. In the second time trial, Ganna used the latest version, and took the win.
Even just the change from the previous to the current version of the suit, it lead to “substantial improvements” in the new suit. Gobik made adjustments to the pattern and tested the placement of each seam an panel to find the right fit for each rider to optimize performance.
“The TT is an art of science with wind tunnel testing being key to the process of getting the best TT package,” noted Rodriguez. “You can train all you like, but if you aren’t aerodynamic enough you aren’t going to stack up against the competition.”
Tune into the Tour on Friday, July 5th and Sunday, July 21st to see Singularity 2.0 in action with INEOS Grenadiers.
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