FDJ coach Fred Grappe has questioned the legitimacy of the 'vortex generator' skinsuits used by Team Sky riders during the stage 1 time trial of the Tour de France, but the commissaires have decreed that the skinsuits are legal as the rules stand.
Team Sky placed four riders in the top eight of Saturday's 14 kilometre time trial in Dusseldorf, as Geraint Thomas claimed the first maillot jaune of the race and Chris Froome gained more than half a minute on his principal rivals in a startling display of collective strength.
The Sky riders were wearing a new Castelli skinsuit, which featured textured patterns on the shoulders and upper arms, designed to act as vortex generators, which smooth the airflow around the body.
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On Saturday evening, Fred Grappe took to Twitter to question the legality of Sky's skinsuits. Citing a study into the use of such vortex generators, Grappe estimated that riders using the skinsuits might have gained between 18 and 25 seconds as result.
"We already tested vortex generators three years ago in the wind tunnel and the effects were very advantageous," Grappe told reporters before stage 2 in Dusseldorf. "I went to see the commissaires and reminded them that this was a rule modified during the winter. The rule said that new materials were now authorised for using skinsuits, so we made a lot of different skinsuits with our partners, modifying the textiles used so as to penetrate the air better.
"But in no case would we have been allowed to insert a vortex, because it's written in the rules that any aerodynamic addition that modifies air resistance is not allowed. That's written clearly in the rules."
Unclear rules?
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