Van der Poel's new Tour time trial skinsuit costs over €3,000

Mathieu van der Poel's strategy for the Tour de France that starts on July 1 is to win stages and try to wear the yellow jersey during the first week, for that he will have to perform well in the prologue time trial and any help is little. This will be his exclusive equipment for the time trial, which costs over 3000€.

The exclusive time trial skinsuit created by Kalas and Vorteq to be worn by Van der Poel in the 2022 Tour de France

Czech manufacturer Kalas Sportwear, clothing sponsor for the Alpecin-Deceuninck team, has collaborated with British aerodynamics specialists Vorteq to create a state-of-the-art time trial skinsuit for Mathieu van der Poel to race in the Tour de France time trial.

Vorteq is behind the most exclusive time trial skinsuits of the moment, such as those used by Simon Yates and Matteo Sobrero to win the Giro d'Italia time trials or those used by Alex Dowsett and Dan Bigham to try to beat the hour record.

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It is not the first time that Alpecin Fenix has sought marginal gains in every little detail so that Van der Poel can squeeze his talent in the time trial, a modality in which he has barely competed, and we remember the 10-hour car trip orchestrated last year during the Tour so that the Dutchman could have the best time trial wheels.

For this edition nothing has been left to chance and Van der Poel and the rest of the Alpecin Fenix team have already been testing the new full skinsuit manufactured by Kalas-Vorteq in the wind tunnel at Silverstone.

"This partnership with Vorteq has propelled us both immediately to the forefront of skinsuit technology. The quality and volume of data we have been able to analyse together is exceptional," explained Kalas' head of development, František Klou?ek. 

"We have already used this data to find considerable gains for our customers, including Alpecin-Deceuninck, who are currently benefiting from this partnership with time in the Silverstone wind tunnel where we are optimising their skinsuits for the Tour de France."

If anyone is interested in one of these skinsuits, Vorteq has them for sale on their website for £3000, almost 3500 €. This includes custom artwork, fitting and wind tunnel testing session.