Self-inflating tire technology had been suspended from the Paris-Roubaix and Classic Peloton for the 2023 season after the first breakthrough in 2024, but will they be back next spring after Marianne Voss successfully used the technology to win the Gravel World Championship?

Vos's trade team Visma-Lease A Bike was discovered using the KAPS system from the Dutch brand Gravaa during a recent training session on a cobblestone road in Flanders after first trying an adjustable tire pressure system in a race at Dwars door Vlaanderen in 2023. It was a great experience.

The system was approved by UCI in 2022/4 after team DSM was also working on a similar on-the-go tire pressure management system using Scope Atmoz.

The major classic leaders Wout van Aert, Matteo Jorgenson, Dylan van Baarle and Tiesj Benoot also used wheelsets in Gravel Worlds, while the Cervélo S5 road bike has a larger front hub to accommodate the technology.

Inside the wheel hub is a mini compressor and a clutch. There is a latch, which can be used to inflate the tire pressure in situ on solid terrain, reducing the pressure to accommodate coarser terrain and optimizing the rolling resistance at lower pressures.

Vos confirmed to Cyclingnews at Gravel Worlds that he used the system frequently during the race.

The Gravaa operating system was housed at the right bar end of the Vos gravel setup for easy access during the race.

While Van Aert was using the Gravaa wheel set made with Visma's Wheel Sponsor reserve in his training, he was one of the Visma riders and did not use an adjustable tire pressure set at Roubaix in 2023. After watching his great rival Mathieu van der Poel win solo, he finally finished that race in 3rd place. 

Gertjan van Ginderen, owner of Gravaa, explained at the Gravel World Championships that the system has been quite developed since its initial release in 2022 and the use of the first race in 2023. 

"So, we've improved the electronics a lot, I must say," he said of the cycling news. "That means there is a PCB (printed circuit board) inside each hub, which is very vulnerable to moisture stains, so we actually modified the technology to make it completely potted.

"So, it makes epoxy electronics completely potted. We changed the antenna, changed the disc brake, including the disc brake interface, so that it is compatible with other spoke configurations."

The system uses a motor pump driven by the rotation of the wheel, which means it does not need to be charged and does not use an internal CO2 canister as seen in some of the previously tested self-inflating systems." This means that the tires can shrink and inflate as the rider needs them.

"This is basically a very small compressor clutch mechanism and an electronic printed circuit board, and the hub is talking to each other," Van Ginderen explained. "That is, the front hub is the master and the rear up is the slave. And to the front, you can connect your smartphone or your bicycle computer as long as it is Bluetooth compatible."

Following the success of Vos at Leuven, 2025 may be the year in which self-inflating tires will become a new trend in road racing It is certain that Visma's men's team is getting used to the system early on in case the leader chooses to use it.

With technical system updates and upgrades and Gravaa's broader business development, Visma running the system in cobblestone races, with Van Ginderen's conviction, the technology will be the mainstay of the Dutch team's equipment set-up at Classics.