Tour de France helmets: Who's wearing what?

By Josh Croxton
published

Whether it's for style, aerodynamics, weight, comfort or the all-important safety, if you want to wear the same helmet as the pros, here's what they're wearing

Tour de france helmets
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The increased safety that comes as a result of wearing a helmet is rather indisputable. Of course, the EPS foam construction is far from indestructible but, in the event of a crash, if you had the choice of your bare skull impacting the road or a helmet, you know which you'd prefer. 

Such is the increase in protection, helmets are mandatory at UCI sanctioned events, meaning all riders at the Tour de France are required to wear one. But long gone are the days of leather 'hairnet' helmets; today's helmets are required to pass stringent safety tests. 

That said, some go further in the name of safety than others. Many brands integrate a slip liner from Swedish company, MIPS (Multidirectional Impact Protection System), or their own rotational impact protection such as POC's SPIN (Shearing Pad INside), which are proven to reduce concussion in angled or rotational impacts.  

Of course, as with any tech, the pros riding the Tour de France are given the very best available, ones that combine aerodynamics, ventilation, weight and safety. Read on for a rundown of the helmet brands in this year's race, and who's wearing them. 

Alternatively, check out our buyer's guide to the best road bike helmets, or if you wish to save money, our cheap bike helmets guide is for you. 

Tour de France helmets: Ekoi

Jean-Luc Périchon (Cofidis) and Brent Van Moer were breakaway companions on stage 4 (Image credit: Getty Images)

Ekoi

Worn by: Cofidis, Lotto Soudal, Qhubeka Nexthash, Arkea Samsic

Ekoi is the most commonly found helmet manufacturer in this year's Tour de France, supporting no less than four teams representing the French brand. 

The AR14 is the one that most riders have opted for, with its aerodynamic design paired with small vents up-front for breathability. This was the helmet worn by Caleb Ewan in that stage 3 crash, as well as by stage 4's breakaway nearly man, Brent van Moer of Lotto Soudal.

However, others have been seen using the brand's Gara, as well as the Legende, which replicates the retro hairnet style with modern and safe materials. 

For time trials, teams turned to the brand's TTRB Chrono helmet. 

Go to Ekoi Racing (opens in new tab)

Jakob Fuglsang wears a Limar Air Pro as his choice of Tour de France helmet

Jakob Fuglsang and his Astana Premier Tech teammates are sporting the Limar Air Pro and Air Speed helmets (Image credit: Getty Images)

 Limar 

Worn by: Astana Premier Tech

Limar makes a range of helmets for road, mountain, time trials and even a full-face helmet for downhill mountain bikes. All of the brand's helmets start with the word 'Air'. You've got the lightweight and breathable Air Pro, the aero Air Speed, and the time trial Air King helmet. 

It's the lightweight Air Pro that the majority of the Astana Team have been using for their Tour de France helmets this year. 

Go to Limar (opens in new tab)

Wout Poels wears a Rudy Project Spectrum helmet on stage 7

Wout Poels and the Bahrain Victorious team are kitted out with helmets and sunglasses from Rudy Project (Image credit: Getty Images)

Rudy Project

Worn by: Bahrain Victorious

The likes of Jack Haig and Wout Poels have Rudy Project to thank for their helmets at this year's race. Haig especially, after crashing out on Stage 3. 

The brand makes helmets for all sorts of cycling disciplines, but riders have been using the brand's Spectrum almost exclusively, a helmet that blends aerodynamic shaping and large ventilation ports. 

For the time trials, that switched out for the Rudy Project The Wing helmet, which we gave five stars in our recent review. 

Go to Rudy Project (opens in new tab)

Mark Cavendish adjust his green Specialized Evade helmet at the Tour de France

Mark Cavendish's Specialized helmet has already won two stages, while his teammate Julian Alaphilippe's has won one (Image credit: Getty Images)

Specialized

Worn by: Bora-Hansgrohe, Deceuninck-QuickStep

Within the Specialized helmet range, riders from Deceuninck Quickstep and Bora Hansgrohe have the choice of the Evade, which features in our guide to the best aero helmets, and the lighter weight, more breathable Prevail II Vent. 

Both helmets integrate the MIPS slip liner, as well as ANGi; a sensor that calls home in case of an accident (although they probably don't have it switched on during racing). 

For time trials, they switched to the simply named S-Works TT.

Go to Specialized (opens in new tab)

Stefan Bissegger wears a POC Tempor helmet whilst racing the stage 5 time trial

Stefan Bissegger was one of the only riders who faced rain on the stage 5 TT, so despite his radical POC Tempor helmet, he only managed 11th place (Image credit: Getty Images)

POC

Worn by: EF-Education Nippo

Easily the most stand-out model in the POC range is the Tempor time trial helmet, pictured above, which has been around since 2012 but takes a wild approach to smoothing airflow past the rider's shoulders. 

On the road stages, riders are mostly using the Ventral, or the Ventral Air. Both of which come with POC's own rotational impact protection, called SPIN, to help protect its riders in the event of a crash.

Go to POC Sports (opens in new tab)

Team BikeExchange's Luka Mezgec (left) and Groupama FDJ's Stefan Kung (right) share a joke whilst both wearing the same helmet from Giro

Team BikeExchange's Luka Mezgec (left) and Groupama FDJ's Stefan Kung (right) share a joke on stage 2, presumably about their choice of helmet (Image credit: Getty Images)

Giro

Worn by: Groupama-FDJ, Team BikeExchange, TotalEnergies

Giro is a common sight in any Tour de France, and this year, three teams are wearing the brand's helmets. Well, three and two-halves actually, because in addition to the Bike Exchange, TotalEnergies and Groupama FDJ teams, Giro has also supplied its Aerohead time trial helmets to team B&B Hotels p/b KTM and Trek Segafredo, since their sponsors - Bollé and Bontrager, respectively - don't make one. 

Those who wear Giro on the road have quite the choice in front of them. There's the flyweight Aether, all-rounder Helios, all-rounder Synthe and the dedicated-aero Vanquish. But that's clearly not enough, because many riders are using the same aero helmet that has been doing the rounds in the peloton since Spring, which Giro is yet to officially unveil. 

All of which integrate MIPS, should a rider need to absorb some rotational impacts in the event of a crash. 

Go to Giro (opens in new tab)

As reigning Olympic champion, Greg Van Avermaet wears a golden HJC helmet at the Tour de France

Greg Van Avermaet is into his fifth year as Olympic champion and his sponsors won't let him forget it (Image credit: Getty Images)

HJC

Worn by: AG2R La Mondiale, Israel Start-Up Nation

The likes of Chris Froome and Greg Van Avermaet are sponsored by HJC, a well-renowned Korean manufacturer of motorcycle helmets that has recently entered the cycling market. Most of the team have been using the IBEX 2.0, but for maximum aerodynamics, riders have been switching to the Furion 2.0, and on time trial days, riders switch to the Adwatt. 

Go to HJC Sports (opens in new tab)

Team DSM's Søren Kragh Andersen opted for the breathable Scott Centric Plus helmet on stage 6

Team DSM's Søren Kragh Andersen opted for the breathable Scott Centric Plus helmet on stage 6 (Image credit: Getty Images)

 Scott 

Worn by: Team DSM

Team DSM's bikes and components come from Scott Sports, and they even provide shoes for some riders, so it's perhaps unsurprising to see that they also supply the team with its range of helmets. 

We gave the brand's aero helmet four stars in our Scott Cadence Plus review, and the team also has access to the Centric Plus, and on time trial days, the team uses the Scott Split Plus. All of which utilise MIPS for increased protection in the event of a crash. 

Go to Scott Sports (opens in new tab)

Mathieu Van der Poel sports the yellow jersey whilst wearing a yellow Abus Airbreaker

Mathieu Van der Poel sports a custom-yellow Abus Airbreaker on stage 7, where he defended his yellow jersey by attacking and getting into the day's breakaway (Image credit: Getty Images)

Abus

Worn by: Alpecin-Fenix, Movistar Team

Riders from Movistar and Alpecin-Fenix are given the choice of four helmets from Abus. For maximum ventilation there's the Airbreaker, for speed there's the Gamechanger, for a mixture of the two there's the Stormchaser, and for time trials riders use the Gamechanger TT. Except for Van der Poel, who naughtily switched out for a Lazer Volante at the last minute. 

Go to Abus (opens in new tab)

Richard Carapaz looks pained as he attacks in his Kask Protone helmet on stage 7

Richard Carapaz was wearing the Kask Protone when attacking late into stage 7 (Image credit: Getty Images)

 Kask 

Worn by: Ineos Grenadiers

Dave Brailsford's Ineos Grenadiers team (and its former guises of Team Ineos and Team Sky) have been sponsored by Kask since the team's inception. 

The team has been wearing the same Kask Protone helmet for seven years now, meaning Carapaz and Thomas are is still rocking the same lid that Froome used when he crashed out on the cobbles in 2014. That said, some riders have been sporting the strangely-named Wasabi aero helmet launched early this year. 

Against the clock, riders have two choices - the short-tail Bambino, or the slightly longer Bambino Pro. 

Go to Kask (opens in new tab)

A dejected-looking Primoz Roglic wears a yellow Lazer Genesis helmet as he loses time on stage 7

Roglic will have been thankful for his Lazer helmet when crashing on stage 3 (Image credit: Getty Images)

Lazer

Worn by: Team Jumbo-Visma

By the calculations of the Virginia Tech Lab (opens in new tab), Jumbo Visma riders are at the lowest risk of concussion in the event of a crash, as the Lazer G1 (Known as the Lazer Genesis in Europe) is the safest road helmet they've ever tested. The teams also have the aero Lazer Bullet at their disposal, but riders have been using the better-ventilated G1 for the most part - cooler heads prevail, and all that.

They've seen their fair share of incidents so far, too. Such as Tony Martin being taken out by an over-enthusiastic spectator on stage 1 - a crash in which his head impacted the ground hard.  

Go to Lazer (opens in new tab) 

Jasper Stuyven wears a Bontrager Velocis as he rides in the breakaway on stage 7

Milan-San Remo winner, Jasper Stuyven, has opted for the Velocis MIPS helmet  (Image credit: Getty Images)

Bontrager

Worn by: Trek-Segafredo

Bontrager claimed it had the biggest change in cycling for 30 years when it launched its range of WaveCel helmets, claiming up to 48x better protection against concussion thanks to the collapsible cellular structure inside the helmet. 

Some Trek Segafredo riders have foregone the opportunity to use the Bontrager XXX WaveCel helmet because it gets rather hot, so in its place, they've been using the Velocis MIPS.

However, in the absence of a time trial specific helmet from Bontrager, the team are using rebranded Aerohead TT helmets from Giro. 

Go to Trek Bikes (opens in new tab) 

Tadej Pogačar, in a Met Trenta 3K helmet leads Davide Formolo who has opted for the Manta aero helmet.

Tadej Pogačar, in a Met Trenta 3K helmet leads Davide Formolo who has opted for the Manta aero helmet.  (Image credit: Getty Images)

MET

Worn by: UAE-Team Emirates

GC favourite Tadej Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates team have a choice of three road helmets and two time trial helmets from Met. 

On the road, there's the lightweight Trenta 3K, the all-rounder Rivale, and the newest addition to the lineup, the aero Manta. In time trials, most riders opted for the Drone Wide-body, but there's also the short-tail Codatronca.

As the current leader of the white-jersey young rider classification, Pogačar has been sporting a white version, while the rest of the team are wearing black and red. 

Go to MET Helmets (opens in new tab)

Jonas Koch wears Force's aero helmet, the Orca, whilst in a breakaway on stage 7

Jonas Koch has opted for Force's aero helmet, the Orca. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Force

Worn by: Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux

If there are any helmet brands in this list that you've never heard of, it's the sponsor of the Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux team, Force. 

The Czech company is supplying the team with two helmets to choose from, the Orca aero helmet or the more breathable Lynx. 

Time trials see the riders switch to the Globe, although Louis Meintjes sneakily used an unbranded Kask Bambino.

Go to Force (opens in new tab)

Franck Bonnamour of B&B Hotels p/b KTM leads a group into Fougères on stage 4, while wearing the Bolle Furo helmet

Franck Bonnamour of B&B Hotels p/b KTM leads a group into Fougères on stage 4, while wearing the Bolle Furo helmet (Image credit: Getty Images)

Bollé

Worn by: B&B Hotels p/b KTM

Last but not least on this list, B&B Hotels P/B KTM have been wearing road helmets from Bollé. All riders have used the brand's Furo MIPS, but not unlike Trek Segafredo, with the brand's absence of a time trial helmet, the team switched to the Giro Aerohead TT for the stage 5 time trial.   

Go to Bollé Helmets (opens in new tab)

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Josh Croxton
Josh Croxton
Tech Editor

As the Tech Editor here at Cyclingnews, Josh leads on content relating to all-things tech, including bikes, kit and components in order to cover product launches and curate our world-class buying guides, reviews and deals. Alongside this, his love for WorldTour racing and eagle eyes mean he's often breaking tech stories from the pro peloton too. 


On the bike, 30-year-old Josh has been riding and racing since his early teens. He started out racing cross country when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s and has never looked back. He's always training for the next big event and is keen to get his hands on the newest tech to help. He enjoys a good long ride on road or gravel, but he's most alive when he's elbow-to-elbow in a local criterium.