TDF helmets

[Chris S]

Is it me or have TDF riders stopped wearing helmets with a point at the back? If they have does anybody know why?

 

[gaz]

If by point you mean an aerodynamic time trial helmets.
They only wear those in the time trials

 

[ClichéGuevara]

I did notice they don't appear to change them even after the heaviest of crashes.

 

[rockyraccoon]

Helmets became compulsory from 1995, I think. Some Italian rider lost control on a descent and died of head injuries. The tour organisers said a helmet would not have helped him but doctor who examined the Italian rider said otherwise.

Before anyone start, I just want to say
THIS IS NOT A HELMET DEBATE PLEASE!

 

[brockers]

^^^2003. Although even then the riders could remove them on hot uphill stretches if they liked. But the UCI banned that after a year or so.

 

[Matthames]

Helmets became compulsory from 1995, I think. Some Italian rider lost control on a descent and died of head injuries. The tour organisers said a helmet would not have helped him but doctor who examined the Italian rider said otherwise.

Before anyone start, I just want to say
THIS IS NOT A HELMET DEBATE PLEASE!

The rider was Olympic gold medallist Fabio Castartelli who died on the Col de Portet d'Aspet. They went past his memorial on the way up the d'Aspet this year.

 

[Fiona N]

I think what the OP meant was that about 6 or 7 years ago, normal road helmets like the Met Stradivarius had quite a prominent point at the back (although nowhere near as defined as a TT helmet). They've gone partly through fashion and partly through safety concerns of having that extraneous lump of stuff behind your neck if you fell backwards. If you're going to wear a helmet, you don't want it to become a lethal weapon - high spinal injuries can be just as serious as head injuries.

In TTs the falls are usually straight sideways, wheels from under, slips, unlike the more violent crashes in the bunch (e.g. Hoogerland's somersaults) so the points aren't so much of an issue.

 

[Red Light]

I think what the OP meant was that about 6 or 7 years ago, normal road helmets like the Met Stradivarius had quite a prominent point at the back (although nowhere near as defined as a TT helmet). They've gone partly through fashion and partly through safety concerns of having that extraneous lump of stuff behind your neck if you fell backwards. If you're going to wear a helmet, you don't want it to become a lethal weapon - high spinal injuries can be just as serious as head injuries.

Over the last decade though the death rate p.a. in professional competition has been three times what it was over the previous three decades.

 

[ufkacbln]

(e.g. Hoogerland's somersaults) so the points aren't so much of an issue.

I know its not funny but that made me laugh... the points were quite an issue for him!