Mixed reviews on Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s tech advantage ahead of Paris-Roubaix: "Of course, you can also eliminate the competition this way”

When it comes to marginal gains, few teams embrace innovation as relentlessly as Team Visma | Lease a Bike. For a race as brutal and unpredictable as Paris-Roubaix, the Dutch squad are once again turning to cutting-edge technology in the pursuit of performance, this time, with tyre pressure.

At the heart of their strategy is the GRAVAA system, a device that allows riders to adjust tyre pressure during the race. On terrain as unforgiving as the cobbles of northern France, the ability to adapt in real time could be a crucial advantage.

Former classics star Sep Vanmarcke was given the chance to test the GRAVAA system for Het Nieuwsblad and shared his thoughts on its potential impact, and the trade-offs.

"What if you get a flat tire and have to change wheels?" is his first thought. "Of course, you can also eliminate the competition this way: whop, zero bar! Flat tire."

Vanmarcke was impressed by how swiftly the system could reduce pressure.

"It's impressive how quickly we get to the lower tire pressure," the former classics specialist remarks. He says the tire pressure is low but a little too low. "Very comfortable on the cobblestones, but you do increase the chance of getting a flat tire."

He believes that the technology could give Team Visma | Lease a Bike a tactical edge, particularly on the cobbled sections where comfort and control are everything.

"The fact that you can lower the tire pressure for the cobblestones with the simple push of a button and that it happens so fast undeniably gives you an advantage in the race. Other riders will have to find a balance between comfortably riding the cobblestones and not suffering too much disadvantage on the asphalt due to their low tire pressure."

This flexibility could be a game-changer for Wout van Aert, allowing him to fine-tune pressure based on the terrain.

"Van Aert can choose the ideal tire pressure for the cobblestones and the ideal tire pressure for the asphalt. Just imagine that he has to sprint against Mathieu van der Poel on the track: Van Aert will be able to do that with the ideal tire pressure, while Van der Poel will have to sprint with flatter tires."

However, the system isn’t perfect. Adjusting the pressure upwards takes time, and that could prove a tactical vulnerability.

"It still takes quite a long time to add those two bars," Vanmarcke notes. Ultimately, the tire takes well over a minute to reach the right pressure. "If I were a competitor, I would attack Van Aert just after the cobblestone section because his tires would be even flatter than yours. But the fact that Van Aert then rides with slightly less tire pressure for a moment does not mean he will be unable to follow that attack."