{"id":583621,"date":"2026-08-05T05:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T05:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/583621\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T05:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T05:02:14","slug":"tour-de-france-femmes-cyclists-face-checks-for-aerodynamic-boosting-chest-padding-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/583621\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour de France Femmes cyclists face checks for aerodynamic-boosting chest padding \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Riders in the Tour de France Femmes<\/a> were examined for hidden aerodynamic enhancements, or chest fairings, before the race\u2019s time trial stage to Dijon on Tuesday, in a clampdown on the latest attempts to circumnavigate cycling\u2019s rules.<\/p>\n

Changes to body morphology to improve aerodynamics are banned under International Cycling Union rules. The UCI\u2019s commissaires were looking for padded chest fairings that would artificially improve airflow and reduce wind resistance.<\/p>\n

In June, Jan-Willem van Schip was disqualified in a French race for inserting a water bottle into the front of his racing jersey on the basis that it enhanced his aerodynamics and speed.<\/p>\n

The UCI directive that selected riders have extra checks before the stage to Dijon came at the instigation of some teams who had noticed changes to rider physiques before time trials.<\/p>\n

Stijn Steels, director of the AG Insurance-Soudal team, said he first noticed suspicious padding at the Paris Olympics in 2024. \u201cThere was a rider who suddenly had huge breasts,\u201d Steels told the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste News.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, many riders filled their bust area completely with ice or other items to create a larger volume, which gives a much better aerodynamic effect. It\u2019s only a few watts difference [in power], but a few watts matter a lot in a time trial. It\u2019s possible and it does make a difference, but I wouldn\u2019t risk it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephen Delcourt, manager of the race favourite Demi Vollering\u2019s FDJ-United Suez team, said: \u201cWe never play with the rules like this. If they want to have controls for this, it\u2019s because someone is doing it. Every season everybody does more work in wind tunnels and looks at equipment from the handlebars, the bike, the helmet. But we don\u2019t play with the rules, we are always transparent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former world champion Marianne Vos, team-mate to the defending Tour de France champion, Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot, supported the clothing checks. \u201cIt\u2019s good that they try to enforce the rules,\u201d she said. \u201cEverybody is looking for the best aerodynamics, so there are some games. But there are rules to live by.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement to all teams, the UCI said \u201cparticular attention\u201d would be paid to ensure cyclists complied with regulations over \u201cnon-essential items or other accessories worn by a rider that could alter their physique\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s really body searching,\u201d Vos said of the checks, \u201cso I don\u2019t have a problem with it, as long as it\u2019s not too invasive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rolf Aldag, team manager to Kasia Niewiadoma, winner of the Tour Femmes in 2024, saw little difference between the clothing inspections and standard doping controls. \u201cYou have to enforce the rules,\u201d he said. \u201cOtherwise, don\u2019t make them. If there\u2019s something to check, then it should be checked. They do that every time they do a doping control. So do we question doping controls?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we question it due to the privacy of an athlete, then you have to skip doping controls too, which we all agree that we should not do. It\u2019s the same rule for the men and they would also be checked. I think there\u2019s nothing wrong with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bert Blocken, professor of aerodynamics, aerospace and mechanical engineering at Scotland\u2019s Heriot-Watt University, said a chest fairing can alter airflow around the body and reduce aerodynamic drag, allowing riders to conserve energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t gain tens of seconds on a time trial, but over 20-30km, it can make a decisive difference,\u201d said Blocken, adding that it could mean a gain of 0.78 seconds per kilometre.<\/p>\n

The UCI\u2019s directive has led to accusations of sexism as no clothing checks were carried out either before or after the men\u2019s Tour de France time trial. \u2013 Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Riders in the Tour de France Femmes were examined for hidden aerodynamic enhancements, or chest fairings, before the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112,42309],"class_list":["post-583621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports","tag-tour-de-france"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}