A new Giro Vanquish aero road helmet popped up at the Tour de France, as did the adjustable Bullet helmet Lazer showed at Eurobike. Kask announced a new Valegro helmet, but Team Sky stuck with their Protone model for stage 2. Here is a look at many of the helmets of the 2017 Tour de France.
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Giro Vanquish aero road helmet
Giro gets credit for kicking off the aero road helmet trend five years ago with its Air Attack. While its bowling-ball shape drew mixed reactions, riders and and other helmet brands took notice, and today aero road helmets are very much a thing.
The new Vanquish is being worn by Katusha-Alpecin and BMC Racing at the Tour. Compared to the round Air Attack, the Vanquish is considerably more elongated, similar to Trek's Ballista or Specialized's Evade.
The Vanquish features heavily sculpted internal air channels, and huge ports at the rear. The big rear center ports in particular are a departure from the Air Attack.
Giro declined to answer any questions about the Vanquish.
Lazer Bullet adjustable aero road helmet
The Belgian brand Lazer was purchased by Shimano not long ago. For aero helmets, Lazer had the Aeroshell and then removable covers for some of its standard high-end helmets like the Z1.
The Bullet was shown at Eurobike in the fall. A panel in the Bullet's center slides back to open a vent at the forehead and also tilt open Venetian-blind-like slats higher up on the helmet. It is somewhat similar to the Star Pro that Bell launched in 2014.
All of the Belgian squad Lotto-Soudal and some of the LottoNL-Jumbo squad raced the helmet on stage 2 of the Tour.
Kask Valegro lightweight road helmet announced
Team Sky raced in yellow Kask Protones as best placed team in the general classification. (Sky's Vasil Kiryienka wore a green Protone as he held the race's first sprinter's jersey.) But the helmet company on Sunday announced a new race helmet called the Valegro that it said Team Sky will use during the race.
The Valegro is designed for ventilation and light weight. It has 36 vents and Kask claims it has minimal pad-to-head contact.
Kask claims the Valegro weighs 180g (in an unspecified size).
Kask says the Valegro will be available for sale this December.
Bontrager Velocis gets BOA dial, MIPS liner
Trek just announced a reworking of its Velocis road helmet, which is little more aero than its predecessor, but most notably get a BOA adjustment dial — a first for Bontrager — and a MIPS liner, another first for the brand in high-end road lids.
The helmet did get 20g heavier than the previous one, but Bontrager said the new one is getting close to the company's Ballista in terms of aero performance.
Aero and ventilated choices abound
While some helmet companies may have laughed at Giro's Air Attack years ago, aero road helmets abound today. At the 2017 Tour de France, riders from all the WorldTour teams have a choice between a lightweight helmet and an aero model from their various sponsors.
Click through the gallery above for a look at Tour de France helmets from MET, Specialized, Bontrager, Kask, Lazer, Abus, BBB and more.
