A technology company focusing on helping cyclists achieve ultimate performance levels is on track to expansion.

Vorteq Sports specialises in the development of aerodynamic skinsuits designed to help cyclists go faster and is growing with the help of ongoing rates relief from the Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Zone.

Part of computational fluid dynamics group TotalSim based at the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub at Silverstone Park, Vorteq has grown from working with elite Olympic nations developing fast clothing for a specific number of athletes to a wider customer base.

The expansion has included more equipment, facilities, capabilities and the development of new intellectual property (IP) for customers. Most recent has been the development of a new Human Performance Room where the biomechanics and position of the athlete is examined along with aerodynamic performance in the wind tunnel.

Head of business development Chris Beck explained: “Previously we would put an athlete into our wind tunnel to measure the aerodynamic forces on them but that did not allow us to measure how position affects a rider generating power through the pedals. As an example, we can now establish whether or not an aerodynamically optimised position is one that an athlete can sustain power in for a long race or event.

“We are trying to build a holistic performance model for the athlete, our new Human Performance Room has let us do that and it has really taken off.

“Meanwhile, we’re working towards the next Olympics, investing in new ways to make clothing that helps riders go faster including new construction methods and fabrics. That requires more machines, so we have been investing in cutting edge equipment and facilities, which has driven the expansion.”

A key part of the development and growth of the company has been the rates relief which helps mitigate operational costs and allows more investment in equipment and people.

“We started off in an office for admin and engineering along with a small manufacturing room for our suit making and we now have manufacturing across two rooms and a larger office while doubling the size of our workforce,” said Chris.

“We’ve invested in more equipment to test new ideas, prototype suits and develop faster than the competition.”

Richard Harrington, chief executive of the Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Vorteq is exactly the kind of ambitious, innovation-driven business so vital to the development of today’s Buckinghamshire economy. We are delighted to be able to support them as they grow skills amongst our workforce.”

Vorteq is an official technical partner of Team BikeExchange – Jayco, the Australian professional road race cycling team, for the 2022 WorldTour season.

Chris added: “We have a public collaboration with the team where a number of their athletes have been in to assess their biomechanics and physiology with wind tunnel testing to make them faster. The first major race of the 2022 season – the Giro d’Italia – saw the team take wins in both of the time trials; a discipline in cycling very much focused on optimising position, aerodynamics and equipment.”

Vorteq also supplied a specially developed suit to American track cyclist Ashton Lambie when he broke the four-kilometre individual pursuit world record at the Aguascalientes velodrome in Mexico. Similarly, British riders Dan Bigham and Alex Dowsett were both wearing Vorteq shirts when their record attempts in seeing how far they can travel in a velodrome in an hour.

In June it was announced Vorteq had entered a partnership with Czech cycle wear specialist Kalas Sportswear.

Chris said: “We are supporting Kalas by bringing our IP and understanding of what makes clothing go faster and they are commercialising it, marketing it and producing it as a jointly branded range of clothing.”

Significantly, Kalas Sportswear is the official kit supplier to the Belgian Alpecin-Deceuninck and the Great Britain Cycling teams.

“Our trajectory for the future is further growth investing in space, people and equipment that allow us to research and develop new innovations. Activities where we can save costs such as bringing processes inhouse, so we don’t have to rely on a supply chain or expensive outsourcing, contributes to the success of the business,” said Chris.

ENDS