The Giro d'Italia ventured onto new soil with a start in Albania this year, and while the Balkan country's residents feasted on the racing up close, they also got a first look at the new tech on offer.
Grand Tour season, like the spell of Spring Classics before it, always promises a surge in new equipment on the start line. This year's Giro has proven no exception.
Only three stages into the race, we've spotted new helmets, unmarked helmets, and a prototype 13-speed Campagnolo groupset. Here's a rundown of the best of the new tech, and the quirky choices some of the teams have made.
13-speed Campagnolo Super Record?
Spotted on the bike of Cofidis rider Stefano Oldani, Campagnolo appears to have updated its latest 12-speed Super Record Wireless groupset, released in 2023, and merged it with its 13-speed Ekar gravel groupset.
Our friends over at Cyclingnews got a closer look at the new 13-cog road offering, and noticed a comeback of Campagnolo’s well-loved thumb shifters, located inside the hoods. These were ditched with the Super Record Wireless’s release two years ago, bringing the brand more in line with its competitors in Shimano and SRAM.
Cyclingnews contacted Campagnolo about the new groupset, and was told elusively that “a new chapter is beginning” in the Italian brand’s history.
“We’re working on a new innovation and product positioning strategy, one that’s designed to meet the needs of various market segments,” the brand spokesperson said.
Campagnolo returned to the WorldTour with Cofidis this year, having been absent from the pro peloton in 2024. With this new groupset, the brand's commitment to elite performance seems clear.
Scott follows TT helmet trend
Bigger is better appears to be the consensus among time trial helmet designers these days.
Following on from POC’s Tempor, Sweet Protection’s Redeemer 2Vi, and Giro’s Aerohead II, Scott has now introduced its own ‘spaceship’ lid into the market. The currently unreleased helmets were worn by Q36.5’s riders in stage two’s time trial, with Tom Pidcock getting a Red Bull-branded one thanks to his personal sponsorship.
The design shares the same flared aspect as the Tempor, Redeemer 2Vi, and Aerohead II, which is said to help guide the airflow over the rider’s body.
Chinese brand XDS enters helmet market
Previously supplied by Italian brand Limar, XDS Astana have now swapped out their helmets to those of their Chinese title sponsor, XDS.
The squad began using the company's X-Lab bikes at the start of the year, and debuted the new road and TT helmets in the opening stages of the Giro. According to the team’s performance engineer, Alex Dowsett, the new lids are “competitive with the best in the WorldTour”.
Both the road and TT options were designed through wind tunnel testing, with the road lid coming out “super aerodynamic”, Dowsett said. As for the TT helmet, XDS went for a simple look that the team hopes will “work on everyone”.
“TT helmets in 2025 don’t win any fashion awards, but it’s fast, and I’m very happy with the result,” Dowsett said.
Lidl-Trek go for unmarked helmets
A sight we’re going to grow used to this season is that of Lidl-Trek riders wearing white, unmarked helmets in time trials.
The reason for this is simple: the squad’s helmet supplier, Trek, doesn’t make a time trial lid, so the team has the freedom to shop around.
In a post shared this March, the team revealed that it has carried out velodrome and wind tunnel testing for each rider to work out which helmet works best for their body shape.
This is why some wore the Giro Aerohead II, made famous by Visma-Lease a Bike and Canyon-SRAM, during stage two’s time trial, while others wore MET's Drone Wide Body II, typically worn by UAE Team Emirates.
In standard road stages, Lidl-Trek’s riders rely on Trek’s Ballista helmet.
EF Education-EasyPost swap out the pink
With customs in place to stop team kits clashing with leaders’ jerseys, it has become standard for EF Education-Easypost and Rapha to release new ‘changeout’ colours for the Giro.
This year, the American squad has gone for a neat, white design, bejewelled with the same motifs of its usual pink kit. Previous years have seen bolder looks, with multicoloured panels, recycled materials, and even a cartoon image of a duck, in a 2020 collaboration with streetwear brand Palace.
