# Tour De France and desents, Good article and nice short video



## Trek_5200 (Apr 21, 2013)

Downhills at the Tour de France Test Cyclists Against Time, Danger and One Another - WSJ


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## tvad (Aug 31, 2003)

^Agreed. Excellent article and accompanying videos.


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Trek_5200 said:


> Downhills at the Tour de France Test Cyclists Against Time, Danger and One Another - WSJ


Great article, thanks!


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## George M (Sep 25, 2008)

PBL450 said:


> Great article, thanks!


Ditto


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## Mergetrio (May 28, 2012)

I'm going to appreciate the mental fortitude of these pro cyclists, especially the ones with cajones!


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## ericm979 (Jun 26, 2005)

Does anyone else find claims of 70 or 75 mph difficult to believe?

I've done a lot of very long steep straight descents, fully tucked in (but not sitting on the top tube), and never gotten above 56 mph, even when I really wanted to i.e. in a race. These descents are about 10% grade and there's no corners that you need to slow for. So it's not a question of bike handling skill. 

Wind resistance rises as the 4th power of speed. So there's a huge difference between 56 and 70.

No one is pedalling at that speed, so the large power advantage that pros have over me is not the cause.


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## NJBiker72 (Jul 9, 2011)

ericm979 said:


> Does anyone else find claims of 70 or 75 mph difficult to believe?
> 
> I've done a lot of very long steep straight descents, fully tucked in (but not sitting on the top tube), and never gotten above 56 mph, even when I really wanted to i.e. in a race. These descents are about 10% grade and there's no corners that you need to slow for. So it's not a question of bike handling skill.
> 
> ...


I have topped out in mid to upper 50's without a full tuck. Hills here are not as long as in Europe so assuming they crest the hill at a better rate than I can, descend longer in a full tuck, and handle better I could see it. Max but possible.


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## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

Thanks for the article. Cuh-razy.


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## upstateSC-rider (Aug 21, 2004)

Excellent article. And I love this quote...


> “I see sometimes on social networks, ‘They don’t dare try anything. Shouldn’t we have a time-trial in a descent?’ ” Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said, referring to stages when the riders go out one-by-one and race the clock. “We would never do that. It would be irresponsible. It’s insane. Yes, it could spice things up, but to what extent: killing people? It makes no sense.”


I'd love to see a downhill TT, surely Salvodelli would come out retirement for that. 

BTW, wasn't there a DH race on the West Coast years ago? Maybe a RedBull thing?


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## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

I've watched a descent back in the 1987 Tour and they were a blur going by. It's one thing to watch on TV, but to watch them live you really get more of a feeling how fast they are going.


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## looigi (Nov 24, 2010)

4th power?


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## JasonB176 (Aug 18, 2011)

Wow, that was fantastic, thanks for sharing! I love descents both in my own cycling and to watch them. This offered great insight into how the pros approach this aspect of cycling.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

Cavendish Tweeted a pic of his computer and his max speed was just under 102 kph. 63 mph plus
Said he clocked it following Kwiatkowski down the Tourmalet


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## dcorn (Sep 1, 2011)

After doing the GFNY, nearly 10k feet of climbing and matching descents, I told my friends I was going to start downhill road cycling like they do with mountain bikes. I guess we could call it downhill TT, why not? Sure it's dangerous, but what racing isn't nowadays? They do the Pikes Peak climb and Isle of Man TT and people die or fly off a cliff almost every year.


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## JasonB176 (Aug 18, 2011)

dcorn said:


> After doing the GFNY, nearly 10k feet of climbing and matching descents, I told my friends I was going to start downhill road cycling like they do with mountain bikes. I guess we could call it downhill TT, why not? Sure it's dangerous, but what racing isn't nowadays? They do the Pikes Peak climb and Isle of Man TT and people die or fly off a cliff almost every year.


What were the speeds generally attained on the descents?


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## dcorn (Sep 1, 2011)

JasonB176 said:


> What were the speeds generally attained on the descents?


Not all that fast, I think I was just short of 50mph for my max speed. But they were fun, windy roads where you actually had to use the whole lane and plan your line to take turns at speed. I love that stuff.


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## NJBiker72 (Jul 9, 2011)

dcorn said:


> Not all that fast, I think I was just short of 50mph for my max speed. But they were fun, windy roads where you actually had to use the whole lane and plan your line to take turns at speed. I love that stuff.


No offense but too many people in GFNY take the descents to fast for that traffic. It can be horrific on Bear and even on smaller descents. I got crashed into at an early wet descending turn this year. While trying to get my bike going I saw 5 or 6 others at the same spot.


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## ziscwg (Apr 19, 2010)

ericm979 said:


> Does anyone else find claims of 70 or 75 mph difficult to believe?
> 
> I've done a lot of very long steep straight descents, fully tucked in (but not sitting on the top tube), and never gotten above 56 mph, even when I really wanted to i.e. in a race. These descents are about 10% grade and there's no corners that you need to slow for. So it's not a question of bike handling skill.
> 
> ...





NJBiker72 said:


> I have topped out in mid to upper 50's without a full tuck. Hills here are not as long as in Europe so assuming they crest the hill at a better rate than I can, descend longer in a full tuck, and handle better I could see it. Max but possible.


I have hit 53 mph just in the drops on a hill that had chipseal. I was not chewing the stem or anything. 30 mm rims with clincher race tires.

I could see 60+mph easy for the pros. However, as you said, resistance goes up exponentially as speed increases. 

By the way, that 53 was fast enough for me. I seemed like the world went into an accelerated "fly by" at that speed. I'll stick to my windy roads that take handling and braking skills to rip around.


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## juno (Jul 18, 2008)

Thanks! Great article. Now I will be watching the descent on that stage to see if anyone goes for it!!!


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## dcorn (Sep 1, 2011)

NJBiker72 said:


> No offense but too many people in GFNY take the descents to fast for that traffic. It can be horrific on Bear and even on smaller descents. I got crashed into at an early wet descending turn this year. While trying to get my bike going I saw 5 or 6 others at the same spot.


No offense taken man. Believe me, my friends and I are not fans of riding through the park at the beginning on wet roads with all those fairly novice riders. When I was hitting the fast descents, I got lucky that they were not crowded. 

Did you do the ride in 2013 when it rained the whole route? The descents that year were terrifying, I can't imagine the pros doing that with all carbon wheels.


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## NJBiker72 (Jul 9, 2011)

dcorn said:


> No offense taken man. Believe me, my friends and I are not fans of riding through the park at the beginning on wet roads with all those fairly novice riders. When I was hitting the fast descents, I got lucky that they were not crowded.
> 
> Did you do the ride in 2013 when it rained the whole route? The descents that year were terrifying, I can't imagine the pros doing that with all carbon wheels.


Yes. Did it the last 3 years. Dry it is great. 2013 Bear was scary. This year it was just the beginning unfortunately for me that was enough.


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## rideorglide (Dec 3, 2005)

Trek_5200 said:


> Downhills at the Tour de France Test Cyclists Against Time, Danger and One Another - WSJ


Good near-bar level footage


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## rideorglide (Dec 3, 2005)

ericm979 said:


> Does anyone else find claims of 70 or 75 mph difficult to believe?
> 
> I've done a lot of very long steep straight descents, fully tucked in (but not sitting on the top tube), and never gotten above 56 mph, even when I really wanted to i.e. in a race. These descents are about 10% grade and there's no corners that you need to slow for. So it's not a question of bike handling skill.
> 
> ...




Just looking at Haas' computer readout on this portion of the descent alone, it peaked out at about 62. And it didn't look like he was trying too hard, as he was getting overtaken a bunch.

The road was narrowish and there plenty of sections where they had to turn/slow down and rebuild speed. I'd imagine a bigger boy with more descending skills and suicidal tendencies could top Haas's 62 there by another 10.

I just want to know how well set up these bikes have to be to eliminate any speed wobble and how great the brakes have to be to slow down the heavier faster descenders. and trusting the road conditions -- e.g. no mini potholes and sticks and sand/gravel. I came back to recreational cycling after a couple of decades years off the bike. I get the willies at 43 mph, but I'm older, bigger, fall harder, have enough hospital trips, time and money spent in MRI machines and physiotherapy, a family and other things to limit my craziness. When I was younger and 60 lbs lighter, I did once touch tyres on a descent at Goodwood, can't believe me and my friend only experienced a few scrapes and torn jeans. You almost land like cats when you're teenagers. Not so much when you get past 50 yrs.


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## pulser955 (Apr 18, 2009)

ericm979 said:


> Does anyone else find claims of 70 or 75 mph difficult to believe?
> 
> I've done a lot of very long steep straight descents, fully tucked in (but not sitting on the top tube), and never gotten above 56 mph, even when I really wanted to i.e. in a race. These descents are about 10% grade and there's no corners that you need to slow for. So it's not a question of bike handling skill.
> 
> ...


I think its totally possible. I came from a background of motorcycle road racing. I can regularly see speeds in the mid 60s on Colorado mountain roads. I'm limited by having to share the road with cars and having to stay on my side of the road. I have told people for years that can't believe how fast I can go downhill get a motorcycle and start doing track days. Once your cornering a 400b bike at 60 or 70mph bicycles are nothing. The speed on a bicycle is different but not that different. Once your regularly riding a bike at close to 200mph 50 or 60mph on a bicycle isn't that scary.


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## Number9 (Nov 28, 2004)

looigi said:


> 4th power?


Good catch! Drag is proportional to v^2 and the power required to overcome drag is proportional to v^3.


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## ziscwg (Apr 19, 2010)

Number9 said:


> Good catch! Drag is proportional to v^2 and the power required to overcome drag is proportional to v^3.



Hey, You engineers knock it off and speak normal internet slang like ROTFLMFAO


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