Attention all cycling designers – stand in the corner of the room and think about what you’ve done. I refer of course to the Lease-a-Bike-Visma time-trial helmet sported by Jonas Vingegaard at Tirreno-Adriatico in March. Although it was hailed by its creators as a breakthrough in aero design, people of my generation will remember it first appearing in the late 1980s in the Mel Brooks’ Star Wars spoof on the head of an arch-villain called Dark Helmet. The first time I see anyone wearing one I will go up to them and shout, “Ludicrous Speed… Go!” ( gag, look it up on YouTube, you won’t be disappointed).
