First off, I am a huge fan of Tour's test procedures. Measuring bb and torsional stiffness instead of having some second-rate cyclist turned writer drivel about how stiff the bike feels when he pushes the bb from the side with his foot is quite an improvement.
As for the stiffness of the P3, I think they had the "pretty good stiffness for aero tubes" remark about the torsional stiffness, not the bb stiffness (where it tested the highest of any bike in the test). There were two problems we encountered with the test. First of all they told everybody a maximum price for the bike, and then Principia sent a bike that was a few thousand euros more than allowed. All we could do is send a pair of Zipps, but had we known we would have done more. The whole mix of testing frames but then also looking at the parts was a bit strange, and there price comparisons between frames and bikes were also a bit messed up as a result.
The other problem was that there were no points for aerodynamics, so obviously that hurt us. But overall I was pretty happy, it has really helped our German sales since nobody expected us to beat the Principia and Cannondale in bb stiffness, and when you look at where the points are scored (for example Principia's anodized finished always scores higher with Tour than paint of powder) it was all fairly positive.
Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike OPEN cycle