Testing on Alkmaar velodrome bears fruit

Team LottoNL-Jumbo worked closely with the Aeropro.nl technical team on Thursday in the Alkmaar velodrome in The Netherlands. The team wants to improve the time trial positions of George Bennett, Martijn Keizer and Steven Kruijswijk ahead of the Giro d’Italia.
 
“We’re searching for the optimal position for those riders ahead of the Giro d'Italia,” said trainer, Mathieu Heijboer.
 
“With George, Martijn and Steven, we’ve achieved good results. By making adjustments to the bars, the height, the stem and the length of the tubes, we managed to make the guys faster while pushing the same amounts of watts.”
 
The Giro’s long time trial, stage 14, in Treviso runs 60 kilometres.

Aeropro
Aerorpro.nl’s help was essential, Heijboer said. “Thanks to them, we were able to see the Pioneer results live. They also captured the air resistance, which is key for the progress we made.”
 
“All of the seconds that we can gain this way are a bonus,” said Steven Kruijswijk. “At the end of a long time trial, this may save a half-minute. That same time is much harder to gain in a mountain stage.”
 
Kruijswijk will ride on his Bianchi Aquila CV several times over the next few weeks. “In the run-up to the Giro, I will train regularly on this bike to get used to my new position.”

Related updates