The 2022 Tour of Flanders started under clear by cold skies in Antwerp, Belgium, but with six hours of racing ahead, riders’ clothing choices ran the gamut. Many riders were in full leg warmers and vests if not full-on jackets at the start, while a brave few took the start in bare legs.
Footwear choices over the shoes were similarly diverse, from nothing to tall aero covers to full-on GoreTex booties.
Here’s a selection of what the men’s WorldTour peloton rode to the start of the Tour of Flanders.
Check out all our gear coverage from the classics.
Castelli’s Fast Feet TT shoe covers feature a silicone coating on the fabric over the shoe, and then a Lycra cuff that is as tall as UCI regulations allow. Castelli designed this for aerodynamics with CFD analysis and wind tunnel work, with the vertical strips acting as boundary layer trips.
Taco Van Der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) had similar shoe covers from DMT.
Edval Boasson-Hagen (Total Energies) started Flanders with yet another similar design to the Fast Feet. Castelli is Sportful’s sister company. These Sportful shoe covers appear to be a pro-only product; they are similar to the Speed Skin Silicone Bootie, but with a Lyrca top.
An EF Education-EasyPost rider opted for a simple Rapha toe cover.
Stan Dewulf (AG2R-Citroen) tucked his aero shoe covers under his leg warmers.
Dewulf’s teammate Damien Touze opted for the aero shoe cover with a toe cover over the top. Many riders stripped off layers as the race progressed.
Okay, so this isn’t a shoe cover but an unmarked Specialized S-Works 7 shoe on the foot of Oliver Naesen.
Florian Vermeersch (Lotto-Soudal) started with with what looks to be Vermarc’s Time Trial shoe cover. He also had another interested piece of gear at the start…
Alex Kirsch (Trek-Segafredo) went old school, simply cutting holes in the bottom of a pair of Santini socks.
Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) in aero shoe covers from Alé.
This is the Gobik version of the aero shoe cover, as worn by Vegard Stake Laengen (UAE).
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) in what looks to be a new version of the Kalas Aero Z1 shoe cover.
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl riders had a wide range of shoe covers. Kasper Asgreen went for the simple two covers.
Quick-Step’s Tim Declerq used Castelli’s Fast Feet aero covers.
And Quick-Step’s Zdenek Štybar went for the full-on GoreTex winter booties.