Why the UAE time trial tires do not explain the falls in the rain at the Giro

The multiple crashes of the UAE Team Emirates-XRG at the start of the 2026 Giro d'Italia had opened up one of the most discussed technical debates of the race. After Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe publicly questioned the use of time trial tires in the rain, the Emirati team has now responded by fully defending their choice and denying that the tires were related to the accidents suffered by Adam Yates, Jay Vine, or Marc Soler.

UAE responds to the tire controversy in the Giro and the theory supports them

The origin of the controversy was in the Watts Occurring podcast, where Thomas and Rowe directly pointed out the Continental GP5000 TT tires used by UAE in the wet stages of the Giro. Both argued that this type of tire, originally designed for time trials, could offer less grip in delicate conditions.

“We all know they are faster,” said Luke Rowe on the podcast. “But they have less grip.” The now sports director of Decathlon CMA CGM even questioned UAE's technical decision after the multiple crash in the second stage. “I don’t understand that decision-making. A rainy day and TT tires seems like a strange decision.”

Geraint Thomas, currently competition director at Netcompany INEOS, also acknowledged that many teams have been incorporating this type of tire more frequently in races. “You start using them and in the end, they become standard,” explained the Welshman.

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However, UAE has firmly responded to those criticisms. In statements to Cyclingnews, a team spokesperson made it clear that they do not consider the problem to be related to the tires.

“We don’t believe it was a tire problem,” said the spokesperson for UAE Team Emirates-XRG. “The riders have been using TT tires for a long time. We believe it was simply due to the rain and the speed.”

What the theory says

The technical explanation that has emerged reinforces that position. Although intuitively many fans associate a time trial tire with less grip, the current reality of these models is quite different from a few years ago.

The Continental GP5000 TT TR used by UAE shares the same BlackChilli compound and the same Lazer Grip surface design as the conventional GP5000 S TR widely used in the peloton. The differences between the two models are not so much in the tread or grip of the rubber, but in the internal construction.

The TT version uses a lighter and more flexible casing, with fewer layers in the sidewall and slightly less material in the tread to reduce rolling resistance and gain speed. But the compound that touches the asphalt is essentially the same.

Another of the most widespread ideas about this type of tire has also been debunked: the supposed problem of tread under rain. In modern road cycling, 28 or 30 mm tires and pressures close to 70 psi make aquaplaning practically impossible in real conditions. In fact, the tread of many current competition tires has more structural and aerodynamic functions than water evacuation.

According to that technical analysis, what really reduces grip on days like those in the Giro are other much more determining factors, such as deteriorated asphalt that cyclists may have encountered in the early days, accumulated dirt, fuel residues, moisture after long dry periods, or aggressive inclines in curves. Precisely several of those elements were present both in Bulgaria during the second stage and in the chaotic finish in Naples days later.

The experience of Igor Arrieta in Potenza serves as an example of this. The Navarrese won the stage using the same GP5000 TT TR tires, although he also suffered a significant scare and a fall during the final descent.

The debate, in any case, has served to show how modern competition tires have changed. Thomas and Rowe spoke from the experience of a generation in which a specific time trial tire usually meant a harder and less safe rubber in wet conditions. But current tires have evolved to blur that boundary between speed and grip much more.