Wout Van Aert, Marianne Vos, and their teammates from Team Jumbo Visma will wear newly designed helmets at this year's Paris-Roubaix and Paris-Roubaix Femme.

Based on the Lazer Vento helmet, which features the novel KinetiCore rotating impact protection technology, the new helmet will be painted to resemble the human brain, with a pink base color and black and yellow markings to create a brain-like outline.

The grotesque design is sure to attract the attention of spectators at the race track, and Jumbo Visma said in the team's social media postings that the goal is to increase helmet use and raise awareness about the importance of wearing helmets .

The announcement was accompanied by a link to a new website launched by the team and helmet sponsor Lazer, called UseYourHead, which includes interviews with doctors who have dealt with brain injuries from bicycle accidents, supporting helmet use statistics supporting helmet use, and case studies of riders who have suffered head injuries in crashes without helmets.

"Accidents happen, and while we can't prevent them from happening, we can spotlight the importance of helmet use. Lazer, along with its partner Team Jumbo-Visma, is addressing this social issue by raising awareness of the importance of helmet use with the goal of increasing helmet use." What better way to get the attention of the masses than by appearing at the start of one of the world's greatest cycling races, Paris-Roubaix, with a distinctive, candid helmet design? The "Paris-Roubaix"

website also claims that wearing a helmet reduces head and brain injuries by 88% and neck and face injuries by 33%. It also claims that in the Netherlands alone, 50,000 victims of bicycle accidents visit the emergency room each year, of which 12,500, or a quarter, suffer brain injuries. [Scottish brand Endura recently unveiled "Project Heid" (opens in new tab), a helmet painted with CT scan images of actual patients who suffered life-threatening brain injuries after bicycle accidents. The campaign coincided with Brain Awareness Week, and the helmet was auctioned off and donated to The Brain Charity.

Of course, all UCI-sanctioned races require riders to wear helmets, but the Paris-Roubaix, with its grueling cobbled course, undoubtedly (and unfortunately) causes a fair share of crashes. Even with the best road bike helmets on the market, professional riders can suffer concussions from crashes, most recently Strade Bianche winner Tom Pidcock.

Interestingly, despite this campaign, Van Art has not completely given up on his usual Red Bull helmet design. The Belgian's helmet is usually adorned with a Red Bull theme indicating a personal sponsorship deal, but it appears that he will be wearing a helmet that combines the two themes into one for this weekend's race.