And just like that, the Tour de France is over for another year. It’s always a bit of a whirlwind three weeks – so much pre-race anticipation, and a slow gathering of pace in the early days before, then just like that, we’re congratulating the winner in Paris.
This year, more than ever, it’s been a case of ‘blink and you’ll miss it’, because this 113th edition was the fastest ever. The peloton, or more accurately Tadej Pogačar, covered the 3,245km at a blistering average of 43.227kph (26.86mph). That’s a whole half a kilometre per hour quicker (give or take a thousandth) than the previous record, which was set – wait for it – last year, by Tadej Pogačar.
The overall race average is far from the only speed record set this year. Among the most memorable were Pogačar’s toppling of Marco Pantani’s 31-year-old mark for Alpe d’Huez, and his own (and Jonas Vingegaard‘s) time for the Col du Tourmalet – rather newer, dating from 2023.
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Not all the records set involved the new five-time Tour champ, however, which is probably no bad thing. There was a new record for the fastest ever stage, for example, set on stage 11 from Vichy to Nevers. Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) romped home first at the head of a bunch sprint that day, recording an historic 50.91kph (31.62mph) average – almost 0.6kph faster than the previous fastest, set in 1999.
You might find, especially if you remember The Bad Old Days™ of the 90s and 2000s, that poring over this list of rising average speeds invokes multiple reactions. On the one hand you have wonderment, perhaps, over just how fast riders manage to travel, especially in the brutally hot conditions of this year’s race. And wonderment at Pogačar’s sheer supremacy. We are told regularly these days that we should cherish the privilege of being fans in the era of what might just be the best rider ever, and that advice shouldn’t be scoffed at.
However, thanks to a long list of disgraced riders and Tour results with names crossed out, bike racing in the 21st century now comes with a healthy dose of suspicion. You only have to look through the comments sections or social media to see it. No matter how stringent the testing policies and procedures, fans have simply had the rug pulled from underneath them too many times by dope cheats for this not to be the case.
Journalists too, have been burned by the flames of historical doping revelations, accused of being naive at best, deceptive enablers at worst. But on this occasion I’ll stick my neck out and say that I believe we have plenty of cause to be optimistic about the cleanliness of the modern pro peloton.
I spoke to Pogačar’s countryman Matej Mohorič a couple of days before the Tour began, and he made an insightful point about how much difference better equipment has made in a few short years. Even in the last 15 years bikes and clothing have moved on significantly, with disc brakes allowing for faster, wider tyres, and more optimised rims, cables running internally on every bike, positions becoming more aero with narrower front ends and fabrics getting incrementally more aerodynamic every season.
The riders are significantly more skilled too, Mohoric said, and the equipment significantly more capable at high speeds. He was talking about descending, but it spoke to a peloton that was slowly uncovering every trace of extra advantage, whether in equipment, nutrition, or recovery protocols.
Development in on bike nutrition, tailored to each rider has been a key driver of performance gains in just the last two or three years. It wasn’t long ago that riders would fuel themselves on 60g of carbohydrate per hour. Now they’re consuming 120g or more. Rewind 10 years and a rider would have given themselves severe stomach issues trying to ingest this much. A rider’s muscles having an almost limitless supply of fuel improves fatigue resistance, meaning speeds at the end of a long stage, or in the final week of a Grand Tour, no longer drop off.
And it makes sense that the best riders – and there always will be riders who are better, let’s not kid ourselves that if everyone did everything perfectly they would all be equal – will benefit a little bit more than the lesser ones, even if training, nutrition and recovery plans are optimised for each individual.
Modern wearable tech also enables teams to focus not just on their riders’ maximal physical capacities, but on their recovery too. Figures released by Whoop offer a startling insight into the quality of Pogačar’s sleep during the Tour and ability to go again, day after day. His heart rate variability and recovery numbers show an elite ability to bounce back from physiological stress. His sleep is high quality too, with a score of 88% across the Tour. This means he was achieving 88% of the sleep his body needed – something most of us would be pretty happy with any day of the week, let alone throughout one of the world’s hardest endurance events.
Finally, the race itself has changed with stage distances coming down. When Marco Pantani set his record up Alpe d’Huez in 1997 it was at the end of a 203.5km stage over several major passes. This year the stage was just 128km long with two minor climbs before Pogačar hit the Alpe.
Bike racing in the 1990s now looks entirely archaic. Many riders back then trained and raced on feel; sports nutrition still meant a steak and rice for breakfast and the average road bike had the aerodynamic properties of a cement mixer compared to a modern machine. It’s a wonder Pantani’s record has stood so long – not a wonder it has been beaten.
So, there’s every reason not to jump to the conclusion that faster means doped. A 100% clean pro peloton may be someway off – an impossible dream, even. But when it comes to Pogačar, Vingegaard et all, until I see those red flags flying high I’ll be keeping the faith and enjoying the era. And for cycling’s sake, may I never be proven wrong.
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