2023-07-13 14:03:49
Certainly, it has happened since the start of the Tour de France that the peloton dawdles with its nose to the wind. A salutary change of gear, no doubt, for organisms put to the test the rest of the time. Because when they decide to ride, the aces of the pedal, it’s not to pretend.
Tuesday, July 11, on an anything but flat stage through the Puys d’Auvergne chain and in overwhelming heat, they sent the case over 43 km / h on average. A few days earlier, on the first Pyrenean stage, the Austrian Felix Gall climbed the Col du Soudet in 40 mins 46 secs, almost seven minutes faster than the old record of his compatriot Stefan Kirchmair, established in 2015.
Later the same day, Jonas Vingegaard swallowed the slopes of the Marie-Blanque pass one minute and twenty-seven seconds faster than Tadej Pogacar three years earlier. The same eagerness on the Tourmalet the next day: the Dane beat the best time of Frenchman David Gaudu by more than two minutes (45 mins 11s against 47 mins 35s in 2021).
Not-so-simple comparisons
Amazing? “Warning: we often compare two lap times without taking into account all the parameters necessary for the analysis.warns Samuel Bellenoue, performance manager for the Cofidis team. On Marie-Blanque for example, between the two races the surface was changed, and between a grainy tarmac and another very smooth, the rolling coefficient is very different. In addition, it would also be necessary to integrate the weather conditions, heat and wind, which can really play a role. »
Frédéric Grappe, the performance director of the Groupama-FDJ team, also storms over certain approximations: “We are one of the most measured sports, but these statistics are then very poorly processed and presented. To compare two lap times, you also have to consider the race conditions before the climb in question, otherwise it makes no sense. »
Example with the climb of the puy de Dôme by the winner Michael Woods, at 15.8 km / h over the last five kilometers, Tadej Pogacar a few minutes later folding the distance to 18.2 km / h. “Normal, the first spent the day in a very demanding breakaway, the second smoothed out his quiet effort in the peloton to produce it only on the final! »analyzes Frédéric Grappe.
Beyond the sometimes difficult comparisons, the experts especially underline important evolutions these last years. “On the material side in particular, with the much improved aerodynamics of the bikes”says Jean-Baptiste Quiclet, Performance Director of the AG2R Citroën team.
“Before, we only cared about the aerodynamics of time trial bikes. For five years, all bikes have been affected, with an aerodynamic gain of at least 10%. » Frédéric Grappe also mentions “the improvement of carbon, with bikes that respond better. Let’s say that, like a pole in athletics, they reflect more of the runner’s energy and provide better performance. »
Equipment, nutrition, preparation: a sum of improvements
The other field which is also experiencing clear progress is nutrition. “Until 2020, the strategy was to limit sugar, but we realized that this was not relevant for high intensity efforts on the climbs at the end of the raceexplains Samuel Bellenoue. Before, a runner absorbed 60 to 80 grams of sugar per hour. Today, it can go up to 100 or 120 grams. »
The preparation, finally, is refined with the generalization of courses at altitude. “In the teams, we used to send two runners to altitude once a year. Today, we focus more on two or three annual exhibitions, and for 8 or 9 runners, so the collectives are stronger”, assures Jean-Baptiste Quiclet. Tadej Pogacar’s UAE team, for example, spends thirty-five days a year on the peaks.
“We really have to emphasize the increasingly professionalization of the teams, who work with a battery of specialists in very many fields, and the modeling of theoretical things is thus translated concretely in the field”believes Samuel Bellenoue.
What about the suspicion inherent in these staggering performances? “I hear it of course, but it is based more on the history of the discipline than on incriminating elements”judges the expert. “I guarantee you that the peloton is very healthysupports Frédéric Grappe. Besides, we can clearly see that the leaders are saving their pedal strokes as much as possible. In the days of doping, we did not see these collective strategies allowing you to be at the bottom only for a few kilometers. And then, exceptional champions exist. Before, only one crushed the race. Today there are two. It is to be congratulated. »
#performances #runners #staggering