The Birth of AARTERO Flyte™

For MAAP and GreenEDGE Cycling, the pursuit of speed is never abstract, it’s about creating material advantage. In the realisation of performance apparel worthy of WorldTour level, every detail, every weave, and every watt matters. From the wind tunnel to the top step of WorldTour podiums, the new PRO Aero Jersey introduces a fresh innovation in aerodynamic design, AARTERO Flyte™—a proprietary weave born from relentless testing, race-proven results, and the shared pursuit of elite human performance.

Developed exclusively for the Team Jayco AlUla and Liv AlUla Jayco, AARTERO Flyte™ is MAAP’s proprietary engineered matrix-weave delivering competitive aerodynamic edge—the same innovative design worn by Ben O’Connor, Mavi Garcia, Chris Harper and  Luke Plapp as they each claimed wins on the world’s biggest stages throughout an explosive season of racing.

This is how aerodynamic theory became race winning reality, as Pro athletes left their mark on the record books.

AARTERO Flyte™ began with a single question: What truly limits performance in WorldTour competition—and how can a textile design help overcome those factors?

In professional cycling, aerodynamic drag and thermal regulation exist in constant tension. The faster the speed, the higher the heat load; the greater the effort, the bigger the aerodynamic penalty. 

So rather than optimizing an existing aerodynamic blueprint, AARTERO Flyte™ started from a draft idea—engineering a new aerodynamic matrix at the fabric level that would minimize drag while maintaining precise body temperature control under the stress of 50 km/h race conditions. The result is a micro-mesh that redefines the boundary layer between athlete and air: invisible in feel, yet measurable in advantage.

AARTERO Flyte™ is constructed from a unique, ultra-thin, 20-micron fiber matrix—a featherweight 100 g/m² gridded weave that’s both hyper-light and structurally resilient. Its 3D ribbed sleeve architecture delays airflow separation, maintaining laminar flow across the arms and shoulders. The compound effect: reduced drag, enhanced cooling, and improved aerodynamic stability at high velocity.

At WorldTour speeds of 40–50 km/h, up to 90% of an athlete’s effort is spent battling air. AARTERO Flyte™ returns energy to the rider. In testing, a 70 kg athlete wearing the Pro Aero Jersey saved 6–8 watts over 100 km—approximatly 40–60 seconds gained without extra effort. Marginal on paper. Monumental in competition.

Unlike embossed or printed alternatives, the sleeve channels of the Pro Aero Jersey are raised through precision Jacquard weaving—a method informed by MAAP’s production partners’ two decades worth of aerodynamic textile research. This process locks performance properties directly into the weave structure, ensuring they never wash out, degrade, or delaminate.

Innovation is also realised through limiting environmental impact. AARTERO Flyte™ employs a solvent-free elastomer, unlike standard spandex. This significantly reduces chemical impact during production and improves recyclability. The fabric’s durability also plays a key role in sustainability—longer life means fewer replacements, less waste, and a lower total environmental footprint. AARTERO Flyte™ is a high performance, low impact innovation, created at our production partner's Italian mill, certified under the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Standard.

Light as air. Strong as steel mesh. AARTERO Flyte™ resists abrasion and deformation through high-twist yarn tensioning that distributes mechanical stress evenly across the surface. The outcome: a fabric that feels weightless on the start line yet endures, wash after wash, race after race.

WorldTour wins don't happen by accident—they are the result of elite team culture with the mentality to chase obsessive improvement. Before AARTERO Flyte™ was realised in the Pro Aero Jersey, sixteen distinct fabric prototypes were created, tested, and refined. Each step pushed a different boundary: yarn density, rib height, athlete fit mapping, thermal efficiency.

In the wind tunnel test phase, micro-adjustments made macro gains. Rib geometries were reshaped to work as aerofoils, guiding air more efficiently along the arms and torso, extending laminar flow and reducing the low-pressure wake behind the rider. The effect was measurable: smoother airflow, lower drag, and consistent aerodynamic stability across variable wind angles and rider positions.

At WorldTour speeds—typically 40 to 50 km/h depending on the stage requirements and race-state—up to 90% of a rider’s energy is spent combating air. Reducing that resistance means faster speeds for the same effort, or equal speeds with reduced fatigue. Even outside the pro ranks, the benefits scale: at a relaxed 15 km/h, roughly half a rider’s effort still goes into overcoming air. AARTERO Flyte™ transforms that invisible resistance into forward motion for every athlete.

AARTERO Flyte™ and the Pro Aero Jersey are the result of a design philosophy that positions the Pro-level athlete not merely as an end user, but as the nucleus of an integrated team development process. Elite riders, expert production partners and apparel designers operate in concert—each informing and refining the other through iterative testing and data-driven refinement. The outcome is the material expression of a continuous feedback loop, where every advancement in aerodynamics, construction, and fabrication is validated through WorldTour stage-winning performances. It’s what happens when expertise across disciplines aligns toward dual ambitions: transformative design and uncompromising speed.

Discover the innovative AARTERO Flyte™ fabric in the all-new Pro Aero Jersey, coming Oct 21.