2014 Castelli Body Paint Skinsuit to Feature Actual Body Paint?

By Sarah Esterman

Via Castelli 2013 Summer Catalog

We've heard some rumors that Castelli's 2014 line will include an interesting update to the already high-performance Body Paint Skinsuit: it might be composed of actual body paint.

According to an unnamed source who claims to have found top-secret documents, Castelli has discovered a space-age polymer that temporarily adheres to the skin. If what these documents say is true, this new technology could be groundbreaking: "A cyclist becomes much more aerodynamic and the cyclist's speed can increase by approximately 5% when the pigment of the suit is applied directly on top of the skin."

We gave Castelli a call to see if there's any truth to the rumors, but they would neither confirm nor deny.

The source has alleged that Garmin-Sharp will be testing this new technology first at the Giro d' Italia in May and later at the Tour de France. If this is the case, riders on the team should expect to shave 30 seconds off every 40k of time trials. "That's the difference between first and second in a race like the Giro," said a representative from Garmin-Sharp.

But whether or not we'll actually see Garmin team cyclists decked out in the new bibs depends heavily on the UCI.

"We are concerned that one team could get such an advantage," said an official release from the UCI. "We are not saying we will ban the new technology, but we are not saying we will not until we learn more. But we will probably ban it."

Domenic Andrea from the Viento Italiano Nebbia Corridore Instituzioni weighed in on the controversy. "If the reports are true," Andrea said, "then much like the Gabba short sleeve jersey in the Milan San Remo, we expect that a lot of other pro teams are going to be scrambling to get their hands on this exciting new technology."

 Stay tuned to the BicyclingHub.com blog for more details. We'll update as we hear more.