Van Rysel takes airbag concept further with fully integrated skinsuit

Unveiled under Project Airbag, the concept moves away from add-on systems worn on the back or under clothing. Instead, the protection is built directly into a race-ready skinsuit, designed from the outset to meet the demands of elite competition.

The timing is no coincidence. Injury rates in the professional peloton remain high, with around 20 percent of riders sustaining fractures each season and more than 1,300 recorded over the past six years.

Where earlier solutions focused on wearable systems that deploy in a crash, Van Rysel’s approach integrates that technology into the garment itself. The airbag deploys in around 60 milliseconds and is powered by algorithms trained on more than 450 million kilometres of data, analysing rider movement in real time.

Protection is focused on the upper body, including the rib cage, spine and neck, areas that remain exposed even with modern helmets.

A key question is whether riders will accept the trade-offs. The current suit weighs around 700 grams, with roughly 500 grams coming from the airbag system. Van Rysel says extensive wind tunnel and thermal testing has been carried out to match the aerodynamic performance and comfort of a standard WorldTour skinsuit.

The system is already being tested with riders from the Decathlon CMA CGM team, with final validation ongoing ahead of potential use in racing. 

For team management, the potential goes beyond pure safety. General manager Dominique Serieys believes the added protection could also influence performance.

“Professional cycling is getting faster and faster, which makes protecting our riders an absolute necessity,” he said in the press release. “A rider who feels safe is relieved of mental load, and that peace of mind can translate into performance.”

For now, airbag technology in cycling remains in a testing phase, with different approaches emerging in parallel. Picnic PostNL’s Aerobag highlighted the potential of wearable systems in the peloton. Van Rysel’s integrated suit points to how that idea could evolve if adopted more widely.

The company plans to bring the technology to market within two years, with the longer term ambition of establishing airbags as a standard element of cycling safety, much like helmets today.