Normally, I don’t really care about bike tech, group sets, brake pads, tyres, wheels, etc. But as I was standing at the start line on Sunday in Gieten, even I, the tech-immune photographer, could not not notice that Mathieu van der Poel’s tyre choice differed from the rest of the field. And I know that in cyclocross, tyre choice is of paramount importance. So this time around, I did pay attention.
While most of the riders had wheels with Dugast Typhoon tubulars on them, Mathieu van der Poel had Pipisquallos on his wheels. As the product description states on the Dugast website, these tubulars “… offer you an extremely good grip on the grass because of the low rhino studs on the side of the tread. The diamonds in the middle give you a low rolling resistance.”
2nd Place
Lars van der Haar (Dugast Typhoon)
1st place
Mathieu van der Poel (Dugast Pipisquallos)
3rd place
Sven Nys (Dugast Typhoon)
Overall, I doubt this played a major part in his win, but then again, the lower rolling resistance might have given him that crucial edge over Lars van der Haar and Sven Nys.
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4 comments
its not the rolling resistance of file treads (rolling resistance is the same when you run your pressure so low), it’s more that they grip better on sand and don’t ‘bite’ you off your line.
Dave, thanks! As I said, I’m not a gear-geek 🙂
Have you watched the #svenness video of this race yet? Related to tire selection, Van der Poel performs an amazing recovery soon after catching Lars. http://www.cxhairs.com/2014/10/09/svenness-3-1/
Ah, that’s a good catch!
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