The Netherlands won the Olympic men's team sprint last night, setting a new world record of 40.949 seconds and a new Olympic record in the three-lap sprint event.

The combined strength of Roy van den Bergh, Harry Lovreisen, and Jeffrey Hoogland, who have been dominant in the sprint events over the past few years, was too much for silver medalists Ed Lowe, Hamish Turnbull, and Jack Carlin of the GB team. It was huge.

On the velodrome boards, tenths of a second can make the difference between winning and losing. The equipment used by every country was not chosen at random, and the quest for speed seems never-ending.

You may have noticed the bright pinky/red Dugast tires on the black Koga bikes ridden by the Dutch contingent. These are no ordinary tires. Due to the overwhelming strength of the Dutch team and their world-class performance, we will take a closer look at the special tire chosen by the Dutch team. This tire is the same one used by the women's sprint team that finished 4th in this year's competition.

We recently published an in-depth track technical feature by experienced Dutch head mechanic Tim de Boer, who shared information about the team's tire choice and why.

The Dutch track team chose Dugast latex tubulars. A tubular tire is an inner tube (often latex) sewn into a cotton casing. A rubber tread tire is put on and base tape is applied over the sewn casing. Adhesive is then applied to the base tape of the tire and the rim of the wheel to bond them together. The tires must be properly glued to ensure that they are mounted straight and that the adhesion between tire and wheel does not come off at the critical moment.

Dugast tubulars have long been considered among the fastest, but a few years ago the small Dutch company was acquired by Vittoria.

Vittoria appears to have no interest in producing Dugast tubulars for trucks, meaning the end of the legendary pink tire. Cyclocross tubulars can be found on their website, but this is the end of tubulars for track. The Dutch team placed their last order with the company for what they consider to be the fastest option for a track tire. The Dutch team placed their last order with the company because these tires are no longer available on the market.

"With Dugast gone, the teams were able to order more tires. We knew things would change. Everything that wasn't perfect we used in training. For the Olympics, we put on good ones."

In talking with de Bourg, it seemed that the team had obtained as many handmade tires as Dugast could produce. The tires have a latex tread, and the team has fitted Campagnolo rear wheels and Princeton front disc wheels in the 25mm size. On the subject of wheels, the CULT bearings used in the Campagnolo Ghibli disc wheels are now the choice of almost every country after years of dominance by Mavic.

"We apply very high pressure, usually 14 bar. As far as my testing goes, the harder the better. But we don't want to risk blowing the tires or anything, so we always leave it at 14 bar."

The handmade Dugast, as mentioned above, has a latex tread and the base tape is bare cotton. Because they are handmade, the tread may not be perfectly straight on the casing, and the tires may not run perfectly when mounted. De Bourg selects the best tires from those used in the Olympics.

"We know that these tires are very fragile and lightweight. We can still glue a lot of tires together in Paris if we have to, and we don't have to be nervous about the tires not working."

The incredibly lightweight construction also means that, depending on the event and how you ride, tires can wear out in a few laps, or just a few kilometers. Imagine a road tire wearing out in just over two kilometers.

"After the sprinters' standing starts, the tires are damaged and need to be replaced. In the omnium, however, tires last longer. A smooth rider will make the tires last longer, but a rider who moves from place to place will not. On the Madison, tires wear faster because of aggressive riding and line changes.

De Bourg believes that many countries choose other tires like Vittoria or Continental, but he still thinks the Dugast is the fastest.

"Not many countries drive Dugast anyway. They think Dugast is unreliable and can cause problems. They would rather opt for a vittoria, which is slower but holds air for a very long time."

"Why too much hassle? For me it doesn't matter if I have to change the tires before the race or not.

This must be an insight into the uncompromising quest for speed and performance that has led Dutch sprinters to Olympic gold medals and new world records."