Picnic PostNL tests Belgian airbag system: “Training for the time being, maybe racing next year”
Safety was one of the most important themes at the Velofollies cycling fair and a lot of attention was paid to Bert Celis’ Aerobag system. The Belgian hopes to see the system in competitions from next year. “Because for the time being there is no legal framework to use it in racing.”
After the serious crash in Dwars door Vlaanderen 2024, in which Wout van Aert, among others, saw his spring go up in smoke, the call for better protective clothing in the race was loud.
This was the signal for engineer Bert Celis to accelerate his Ploef project. The result: a year and a half later, Celis shows off its Aerobag system at Velofollies.
“There is an electronics module at the back of the back that detects whether a rider is going to fall,” he explains. “That then sends a signal to a CO² cartridge: now you have to go off.”
“An air pocket is then filled, from the neck through the shoulders to the hips.”
First inflate, then deflate
How is it determined if a rider is about to fall? “That is quite complex. It contains various sensors that detect, for example, the angle of the back or the rotational acceleration.”
“Together they determine whether a rider falls or not. For example, the position of the back must change enormously or there must be an enormous rotational acceleration before it goes off.”
“We have remained fairly conservative with our system. A rider who only slides over the asphalt will not trigger the system. If he then flies over the guardrail, it will.”
And what then after the fall? “In principle you can continue to drive with the aerobag, it is not that disturbing. This is already used in MotoGP and there you also see riders driving with an inflated airbag.”
“Gradually the air is blown out again. If you want to make it go faster, you can also just take the cartridge out and it will go back to the original position. You will lose 10-20 seconds at most.”
This is already used in MotoGP and there you see riders riding with an inflated airbag.
Bert Celis (developer Aerobag)
No framework yet to use it in racing
Bert Celis is joining forces with Picnic PostNL to further refine the system in the coming months. “Their performance manager Piet Rooijakkers told us: come, we will further develop this together.”
“But this is not exclusive to PicNic PostNL. We want to test this with multiple teams.”
We won’t see the Aerobag in competitions right away. “Riders are training 90-95% and that is also dangerous.”
“There is currently no framework created by the International Cycling Union (UCI) for competitions.”
“There is a chance that they will allow this in competitions, but that will only be in the next phase. I think perhaps from next year, when more experience has been gained. In any case, the UCI knows that this is coming.”
The aerobag is not cheap for the time being. “It costs 700 to 800 euros, but the cost of a rider who cannot race for 3 or 4 months or perhaps even ends his career after a fall is many times higher. Just like the insurance costs. In that light, this price tag is relatively low.”
