McCormack lost by 71 seconds. Would he have won if he wore an aero helmet?
Aero stuff doesn’t have the same impact in certain tactical situations. Even sitting in a draft, it might have saved him some watts, but would that have been enough for him to overtake Stadler? I rather doubt it. It’s not a time trial for 8-some hours. The thing ends in a footrace – man to man, not against the clock.
He only woulda won if Faris towed the whole group up closer to Stadler,his helmet would not have made the group go faster.
t~
What it comes down to is, whether the (considerable) extra power requirement needed to get closer to Stadler have slowed Macca so much on the run that the result would have been worse. If there were a 10 meter rule, would he have been unable to draft and had to make that decision? It is entirely possible that the 7 meter rule cost Macca the race.???
YOU have to give Napolean his due. He really worked on his swim and run, and THAT, combined with his biking prowess, won him the race.
he is gonna ride with the group whether or not he has an aero helmet or not…so the real question is about Faris’s aerodynamics.
I doubt you’ll see Macca with the group next year. Tim deBoom yes (if he’s back) But if Macca wants to win he now knows he needs to be within 5 - 7 minutes (MAX) of Stadler off the bike and he will ride accordinly. Remember Macca was first off the bike in 2002 or one of those years - the boy can ride and he knows now what it takes to win. He might not still win - but he will make it a real race of it next year.