A bridge too far? Scicon prices bizarre aero 'beak' at €350, as Dylan Groenewegen reveals UCI ordered him to remove nose cover during Tour de France stage

Dylan Groenewegen revealed that he was ordered to remove the bizarre aero 'beak' he sported during the third stage of the Tour de France yesterday, the nose cover on his Scicon glasses apparently attracting the attention of the UCI who demanded he took it off mid-stage. 

The cycling world went into meltdown when the Dutch sprinter was spotted with a Batmanesque addition to his glasses at the stage start in Piacenza on Monday, and unsurprisingly jokes, memes, ridiculing and silliness ensued online as fans tried to get their heads around the latest "ridiculous" frontier in questionable aero tech.

> "This is getting ridiculous": Bizarre aero 'beak' spotted attached to Dylan Groenewegen's sunglasses at the Tour de France

However, by the time Groenewegen sprinted to fifth place, behind a history-making Biniam Girmay, he was back in his beak-less ordinary shades and there was no aero nose cover to be seen. In a video since shared by his Jayco AlUla team, it appears the explanation for this was the UCI stepping in and ordering Groenewegen to remove the nose cover.

"I need to put if off, from the UCI... that was a big surprise! I think they saw me not pedalling and said, 'this is not fair, we need to stop these fast sunglasses'," he joked.

We've contacted the UCI for confirmation, but the Dutch sprinter had seemed pretty pleased with his pointy appendage prior to the stage, confirming that it was an aero decision, "So I go faster".

He then told ITV's TV cameras: "I like the glasses. In sprinting you want to [be as] fast as possible and if you can change small things, that can change a lot."

In a development that will surely not help the ridiculing it has been on the receiving end of online, the nose cover is up on Scicon's website priced at an eye-watering €350. Not that you'll be able to buy one yet, the "flexible and adjustable nose pad" currently unavailable — although Scicon is more than happy to notify you when it's back in stock.

Scicon does have a range of replacement parts, including nose pieces and pads, all priced around the €20 mark, but the unavailable aero nose cover is more than 15 times more expensive, unless the price is a mistake. The spec section shows that it is compatible with the brand's Aeroshade, Kunken and Aeroscope lenses and weighs 8g, and the "what's in the box" listing suggests the price is just for the cover (not with glasses as well).

Scicon says: "Enjoy an exceptional fit for any face shape with the Aeroshade, Kunken, Aeroscope Nose Piece with flexible and adjustable nose pad. Simply adjust the nose pads yourself. Twist them, turn them, move them up or down to find your perfect fit.

> Has aero gone too far? The most excessive cycling tech made to shave milliseconds

"The silicon nose pad ensures a super soft feel and also grips your nose to help prevent it from sliding down your face. Highly adjustable, this nose pad is also suitable for Asian riders, proving that it can be adapted to any facial features."

No word on how many watts the beak saves, but Groenewegen is no stranger to pursuing radical aero gains. Last season, we saw him win at the Saudi Tour whilst using an aero cover over his Giant Pursuit helmet. The downside of this lid, as far as we can tell, is that it doesn't look very breathable. 

At least the team saw the funny side of his latest addition...