Can GCN Beat Pogačar Downhill?

Hank takes on the Col du Galibier, the iconic mountain pass from Stage 4 of this year’s Tour de France—descended by Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard themselves! Hank's on a mission to find out: how fast can he descend the Galibier and how close can he get to the pros' top speeds?

00:00 The Iconic Col du Galibier Descent
00:20 Can Hank descend as fast as the Tour de France pros?
01:30 What top speed can Hank hit?
02:20 Hank's turn descending the Galibier
06:18 What was Hank’s time?
06:59 Stats and Power Data

Disclaimer: James has vast experience riding a bike having been a professional cyclist and checked out the descent many times. This video is intended to entertain and inform. You should not attempt anything which is outside of your skill level or which you do not feel comfortable with.

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🏔️ Would you love to descend the Galibier? 🙋Let us know in the comments!

Watch more on GCN...

🎵 Music - licensed by Epidemic Sound 🎵
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Don't Hold Me Back - Andre Aguado
Epicness - Daniel Fridell
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#gcn #cycling #roadcycling #roadbike #bike #bikes #bikelife #tourdefrance #tourdefrance2024 #tdf2024 #galibier #pogacar #vingegaard

📸 Photos - © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sirotti Images

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[gcn]

Do you think you would have the skills to keep up with the pros? 💨

[bittiapina]

That bunny hop that Hank did in those speeds to dodge the wet tarmac? Insane. Well done. Always a good time watching Hank do crazy challenges.

[matejstankovic]

"I'm not gonna take crazy risks"
Proceeds to overtake the orange van through the corner...

[mradelphi]

At no point in my cycling life would I ever feel safe going 110km/h.
Props to the pros making it look easy

[JeremyKnight-ig]

Brilliant video. You're a brave man, Hank! I was s**t scared just watching you descend! Loved the bunny hop, too!

[jbratt]

Having the entire road allows you to carry much more speed through the corners. This not only gets you through the corners faster but sets you up to go much faster on the straights. Good job!

[mitch_smith]

Hank you smashed it and since no one said anything, that bunny hop was perfectly timed. Made this old BMX’er smile.

[chrisdavidson]

You'd've found about a minute if Si was somewhere behind you on his Brompton and you could hear him shouting

[AQUPAS]

Another banger of a video by GCN!! Absolutely epic views too!

[festerofest]

That was thrilling to watch! The awesome drone footage really helped provide
perspective. Nice work, GCN! And a beautiful bunny-hop over the wet spot, Hank! You were FLYING yet the TdF bros were 10kph faster -- just unbelievable!

[williamh]

Hi Hank & Manon, I was the bike packer that took a pic with you at the summit of Galibier. Thanks for having taken the time for the pic. Great vid !

[nickpatten]

That was bloody good going Hank, great footage too. One of the best GCN videos of late.

[roberthayter]

I have a French friend who lives in St Jean de Maurienne in the region of Galibier. Last time I saw him he was 77 and had ascended four of the local Tour de France mountain passes that summer - by bike, that is - including Galibier.

[mommamooney]

Loved it! I am definitely not a speed demon on descents. The hubs told me recently that I’m faster going uphill than down. I think it triggers my absolute fear of heights

[ger]

This looks like so much fun! Great job to Hank for making it down at such a fast pace.

[davidshardlow]

Hank that was absolutely epic! Bluebird day in the Alps and serious cojones from you on the descent.. brilliant video!

[rant-a-dad]

Chapeau! That is an absolutely amazing effort. 👏🏻👏🏼👏🏽👏🏾👏🏿

[mikkelaare]

What a epic vid, the experiment is interesting of course - but can we take a minute for the feeling of this epic descent. From the flowy turns into the perfect hairpins with the most amazing views in the background.

This is why i ride my bike in flat Denmark, so I can have experiences like this in the mountains.

[PepeDalinShow]

I love descents! It's the best part of the climb! SEND IT!

[_Astrovert]

The forward looking, over the back clips were awesome!!