By my count, Sam had 4L of hydration for the last T100 race in Ibiza, which is clearly more than he’s ever going to need. He’s probably just using his Kona setup, but if any of these bottles were net slower, he wouldn’t have run them today.
At worst, can we say that all these bottles are net neutral? The behind the saddle has been known for a while, but the double barrel BTA setup pointing down is something we’re seeing more of. I can’t imagine that he hasn’t tested it or would run it today if it tested worse.
(In Kona if its a 1-2w worse, you could argue that its worth taking it on so he has more with him, but you wouldn’t do that for T100 since he doesn’t need it all)
I feel like the integrated hydration system is a toss up, as some people don’t use them. On top of that, what’s to say he isn’t consuming 4 liters on course? Plenty of people can lose 1 liter of sweat per hour.
Did you see the sweat coming off of him during that ride, it was like a river coming out of his helmet. He is a known heavy sweater, think his dad talked about that in the little interview he gave during the ride too. And nice to have all your personal nutrition right there, not like they were going up 10% grades or anything…
The Maurten bottle is translucent, and on the broadcast it’s clear (ba dump ba) that the bottle is empty. Probably there for aero, esp. considering he’s done testing recently. The black bottle above it actually had fluid in it (he was drinking from it mid-race), which is why it has a rubber band to prevent launches and the lower bottle does not.
Having a full run of his race kit which seems sensible. Do we think he’ll wear that new ekoi helmet in Kona? It looks low on vents and clearly he sweated a fair bit in Ibiza where it didn’t seem to be super hot
Obviously not all those bottles are full of liquid, he does not use the internal bladders and I doubt he ever touched the bottle behind the saddle!
It´s for aero gains only!
As for the helmut, he could always take the full step and go Andy Potts style
Interesting. Asking as someone who’s always tinkering with the best way to carry nutrition, and tried a new option most seasons, do you know what he’s carrying in each bottle and what his nutrition plan actually is?
Watching this at the end of the race, its apparent that he’s using the 2 Maurten 1L bottles. 2L for a race less than 2hrs long is reasonable hydration.
The others are clearly there for fairing and to replicate the Kona setup. He was only drinking from the black bottles.
No straw visible for the integrated one, and the clear bottle is empty. Its likely that the aero bottle below is likely also a fairing as well - the camera wasn’t on him all that much once Funk took over and once Brownlee had his penalty, but he was only really drinking from the black Maurten ones - and had swapped out the rear at some point
Interesting from an aero perspective if 2 of these are empty/spare and he’s not using the integrated one - which means that either he really hates the straw, or all these bottles are faster (or close enough) in the wind tunnel
The internal bladder straw is there, (very hard to see but it is) but I didn’t see him drink from it a single time. I’d assume he’ll use the bladder in Kona for just water and carry all his nutrition in the other bottles. Last time in Kona Sam had the fastest time through special needs since he got there first and they had his bag ready. Meanwhile Magnus had to wait on the side of the road while yelling for them to hurry up and lost some time. I bet Sam wants to eliminate the need to have to stop at special needs if at all possible. You’d assume he could keep his nutrition in those 4 bottles and then simply use the bladder and any other bottle he could pick up on course for water.
He did just announce that he’s sponsored by them, so I think it’ll be his helmet for a while. He used to use the met drone, but said after wind tunnel testing he found the ekoi to be faster. Might see him pop the visor off and wear it with sunglasses like he did the met drone last time he was on the big island. But no idea how the ekoi with sunglasses tested as I’m sure he checked.
Since he’s sponsored now and likely means Ekoi is dishing out some good money, I would be surprised if they made him a few visors with increased ventilation just for Kona. Not a bad investment on their end in my opinion. That helmet got and will continue to get a lot of TV time since he’s at the front of the race 99% of the time.
Let’s also keep in mind that a lot of pro athletes don’t obsess over aero details like some of us do. Plenty of peak level pros get aero testing done from team/sponsor and get a setup made without really understanding the why’s of the setup. Take a look at the pro rack at your next race. The bikes will be fancy and expensive, but you’ll be able to find little things on some of them that are worth changing. No idea if Laidlow falls into this category, but worth remembering nonetheless.
That may have been the old Sam - the one who doesn’t have WC-winning money to shell out for aero testing.
The electrical tape was likely slower, but it does show he’s thinking about his aerodynamics in a way others aren’t - everyone else is on a stock frame and he’s at least trying to modify his bike to be a watt or two faster.
Don’t forget that he was also one of the original bottle down the shirt guys
