Had MvdP ever ridden a TT like that on that big of a world stage? I know he’s done good rides in the Belgium Tour, but the competition of that is pretty far below what we had today. And last year he didn’t even bother with a TT bike in the tour.
Photo courtesy of me and my iPhone
He had a good tt in the giro a few years ago
MvdP is not a fan of TTing, but he’s not bad at it.
That year he was leading The Tour he was 5th to hold on to the yellow jersey – just 1 second behind Wout. IIRC he was quoted as saying he hadn’t TT’d since he was a junior.
What sorta CdA number do we think Remco is at? @marcag? His position is pure sex.
I would say low .16x
Is there anyone in triathlon even in the same ballpark? I don’t think I’ve heard a number anywhere close to that in all the wind tunnel/testing YT videos I’ve watched.
Marcag will know better, but back when he would disclose his power, I calculated about 0.165 off a flat time trial result. Take with a grain of salt of course, as I made a bunch of assumptions. But he is wicked aero for sure.
Pogi looked mentally frazzled at the finish line. This is exciting for us as the mountains are coming and he has to attack Venga and Remco.
In the men, I would bet no.
In the women, some are getting close.
Just think of how much faster he could get with a hydration fairing or a water bottle down his jersey.
It’s not just that he is at that number that impresses me. It’s that he is delivering somewhere in that range consistently in actual TTs, not just tests. His ability to hold his position and deliver the watts are remarkable. Give me a halfway long ITT again in the TdF and the we’d see a fun shake up in GC.
You are soooooo right.
Athletes do a one time test, get a number and then don’t hold that position in racing, don’t recheck, don’t iterate on the testing and at the end of the day are no better than when they started.
Optimizing aero is a process where you iterate over and over. Test, confirm in training, confirm in racing, retest, rinse…repeat.
Many in the management ranks consider testing a ‘checkbox’ to tick off.
and he extends this same level of discipline to his position on the road bike. Watching him bridge that gap on stage one being just the latest great example.
Imagine if this upcoming TDF had Armstrong-era TT mileage in it? Maybe add a TTT? Damn, that would be fun.
TdF stage 5 is an ITT double the length of today so we’ve got that to look forward to in week one.
He def had some hi-speed wobbles, which will shake a person up
Many decades ago, I was in a DH skateboard race in VT, when I started to get the shakes under my back foot. I adjusted here & there to calm it down, and eventfully stabilized - but my HR was skyrocketing
Then, I saw the car in front of me - a white Honda Accord if I remember correctly, cruising along, pretty as she pleased
Well, my only option was to zip around her, pay for the best, and keep going
Can’t say for sure, but 45mph was claimed by roadside spectators who saw the pass
That’s nothing by today’s standards, but noteworthy at the time - I forget the board, but most likely wide Trackr Trucks and 70mm Krypto wheels (green😉)
Opening stage of the 2026 TDF. In Barcelona.
Nevermind, according to Cyclingnews, he did have a possibly legal water bottle down his jersey.
Yup! Looking forward to it, 
a ttt
I’m a bit torn on TTT’s I love them as a spectacle, I think they are great.
BUT… having them in a grand tour really highlights the gaps between the rich and less rich teams.
I dunno if i agree on this though. EF and jayco have been absolute TTT weapons the last few years, and neither of those are considered wealthy teams. I think its easier for the wealthy teams to be smart, but smart teams can also do good TTTs
EF and Jayco are WT teams though and are well funded enough that I don’t think there are issues there. I think what @trener1 is referring to is the Pro Conti teams who basically don’t have a shot - there was a TTT in a stage race last year, can’t remember which one, where one of the Spanish teams literally rode on road bikes. Now, you could say that teams like that aren’t going for GC, and that may generally be true but it’s also possible that there are guys who are aiming for even Top 20 and taking a hit of a few minutes in a TTT is going to be a big blow to that. And you could also say that in a Grand Tour, the wildcard invites, even though they may not be WT, will likely be among the more well-funded of the conti teams and so probably have TT bikes. But the point stands in general, so maybe it’s best to reserve the TTTs for Grand Tours and WT stage races but not lower level ones.
Milan back in 5th today seems surprising. Hopefully no issues for Remco after going down.
On the women’s side, Tour de Suisse is already a two horse race but should be a good one, I’m psyched on the emergence of Reusser as an elite GC contenders.
