Image and article (for further reading) from: https://www.redbullborahansgrohe.com/en/news/an-aero-revolution-in-the-catesby-tunnel ; Images by Red Bull Content Pool / George Marshall, Published 11.11.2025

Aerodynamics has always been a major factor of cycling. For the pro peloton, there is heavy emphasis on marginal gains, where saving 7 watts can be the difference between winning and losing on certain cycling stages; saving energy by improving the aerodynamics of both the rider and bike can lead to victory in this sport. The team at Redbull Bora Hansgrohe, in collaboration with Specialized and LaVision, focused on taking Formula 1 (F1) approaches and applying it to the world of cycling.

This image depicts a cyclist riding through a particle image velocimetry (PIV) test, which measures both the speed and direction of individual air particles through a section that the rider passes through. The PIV test illuminates millions of helium air with lasers and captures the flow with a high speed camera, which then is put into a computational fluid dynamics program to visualize and quantify air flow. This test was conducted at the Catesby Aero research Facility, where every climatic factor was controlled and over 100 test runs at the same speed, position, and line were conducted.

The idea of quantifying rider position, bike design and geometry, clothing material, and other factors of cycling through direct measurements and visualization of air flows/vortices is the best representation of art and science. Previously, wind-tunnels were designed to calculate the wattage of varying setups, but the inclusion of the PIV will allow for in-depth, real-user analysis and accurate imagery to target specific areas that may not have been shown in wind-tunnel analysis of CFD models.