"At first I thought: This is fake!" - 4x time-trial world champion Tony Martin reacts to controversial new Visma helmets

Few people have had more success against the clock than four-time time-trial world champion, Tony Martin. Even he was left stunned when he saw the images of Team Visma | Lease a Bike's new time-trial helmet earlier this week.

"I didn't see the time trial live and a friend sent me a picture and at first I thought: This is fake!" the 38-year-old German says in conversation with Eurosport. "Of course you smile at first, but ultimately the point of a time trial is to get from A to B as quickly as possible - and if the helmet saves a few watts, that makes sense. I would have put it on too!"

Whilst the time-trial performances of Team Visma | Lease a Bike's riders at both Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice weren't exactly anything extraordinary, Martin believes these helmets will soon be seen across the peloton. "It's something we as spectators have to get used to, there have been some not-so-nice time trial helmets in the peloton for a long time and you just have to get used to them," he explains. "This new helmet is one of them and now that we have seen it a few more times in time trials, we perceive it differently and more normally."

That is at least if the UCI don't come down with a swift ban when their imminent investigation is closed. "I think it's a shame that a debate has now started again as to whether helmets shouldn't be banned outright. I do not understand that. The team probably put me into development for several months, if not a year or two. To eliminate that now with one sentence in the regulations would simply be a shame," Martin says. "Sport also lives from such material developments, from high-tech, from the effort to make it ever faster: if you put a stop to every innovation that might look a little special and that not everyone can imitate so quickly, all development work becomes simply massively hindered."

"All helmets are subject to precise regulations, especially when it comes to fall safety. I firmly assume that this helmet has also been tested and certified accordingly. So I don't know what this discussion is about," the German concludes. "If there is evidence for such an assumption, then it must be presented, but I was betting that this new development would also be fall-proof. In general, time trial helmets can always break and splinter, but the major safety risks in cycling lie elsewhere."