Why This Year’s Tour De France Was The Fastest Ever | GCN Tech Show Ep. 240

This year’s Tour de France was one of the most exciting bike races of all time. It was the fastest edition ever and we think that a lot of that was to do with all the latest tech. Tubeless tyres, skinsuits and disc brakes are among the innovations speeding up the peloton. Alex and Ollie discuss on this week’s GCN Tech Show!

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:36 Last Week’s Poll
01:29 Why Was The Tour So Fast?
09:09 Hot Tech
15:42 Comments Of The Week
18:32 Bike Vault

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How much do you think tech made this year’s Tour de France the fastest ever? Let us know in the comments below! 💬

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[gcntech]

How much do you think tech made this year’s Tour de France the fastest ever?

[jackseph]

I think you missed another factor as to why the average speed of the Tour was the fastest ever: tactics. There are no piano stages anymore. Every stage was flat out from the drop of the flag. Some breaks took 100k to form. Many first hour's averaged well over 50kph. They new generation of riders have ripped up the rulebook on how to ride a Grand Tour. Also, the stages themselves, particularly the mountain stages in this years edition, were shorter, so riders went hell-for-leather from the start.

[danielpinto]

The breakway formation for most stages was crazy lasting for hours in some stages which saw them average more than 50km.h in the flats (bumping the average speed a a lot) plus even Geraint Thomas said and I saw in the flags, they had a lots of tailwind (even up climbs) in this edition, and nobody talks about that..

[douglaspate]

I firmly believe a big contributor is nutrition. The exact and correct nutrition gives faster recovery so riders are more ready for the following day's stage.

[stevenpike]

Doping may also increase average speed…reminds me of 1999/2000…especially the recovery after tough days…

[benworley]

It was mentioned on the GCN coverage that there was a lot of tailwind at this tour. I am sure other things contribute to improving average speeds but sometimes there is a simpler answer

[Medevil]

They should make a video or series about getting confidence and fitness back after an injury. Alex is in a prime position to do this.

[endcensorship]

First tour with three winners on the podium since 1989 (LeMond, Fignon and Delgado)

[AlbertBuckinghamEllison]

So, what you're saying is that this year's TDF was... Hotter than ever. 🔥🔥😎

Also mountain stages were shorter, rolling and flat stages longer. So faster on average, even with Pidcock's Mach 2 descending.

[savagepro]

Cycling is the most tested sport: Lance was NEVER caught, NEVER caught, NEVER caught! MOST riders will NEVER be caught.

[struancochrane]

Style of racing, it was super aggressive throughout. But also as much as tech is advancing it is helping riders recover fuel and monitor their efforts. Better recovery.
Not to mention the hoardes of motorbikes and cars that the head of the race draft off, making it nie on impossible for the rear of the peloton keep up. The reintroduction of the TTT, fingers crossed, would see the Ave speed climb further.

[mattmcdowell]

Not just ANY compact disc player gents... a genuine Bang & Olufsen Beosound 4000. Those are now "vintage" with their production ending in the early 2000s. On ebay, those are still selling for $1000 US.

[thomask]

Where does Alex talk about his crash, i have watched the GCN show and couldn't find the timestamp where he talks about how it happened :(

[durianriders]

Fastest TDF ever despite

Super hot conditions.
41 riders didnt finish
Most riders had the pandemic virus this year
47861m of gained elevation.

Id say it was the 8kg aero disc bikes the main reason.

[PietroLiguori]

Thanks for featuring my Cervélo guys! And thanks for trying it hard with my nickname :)
Yes, that's a "traditional" CD player if you want to call it so... it's a 1990s Bang&Olufsen!

[morellish]

The industry realized it is a bad business model to focus on weight, something that is so easy for the consumer to figure out. Instead all focus is on the aerodynamic gains which is, let's face it, impossible for us amateurs to prove. All kinds of numbers are thrown around and we are supposed to believe they are making us so much faster. The new Trek Madone with the hole under the seat post is the perfect example.

[WillPower]

Amazing how aeros can be this much better than HGH, anabolic steroids and EPO combined. Really incredible. Loved listening to your justification for these new clean breed of athletes being so much more impressive than riders of the past. Also LA passed over 500 doping tests, just saying.

[ffskierdune]

If what you say is correct, then why do we not see this in the other Grand tours? The Giro's fastest times (40km+) occurred in the following years 2009, 20016, and 2018. Tour of Spain's fastest time occurred in 2003 at 42.50km

[cycling]

Tailwinds for most of the stages contributed massively

[graemehill]

My best guess on doping is that it's still rampant but that the main way to get around tests is to micro dose. Smaller benefit with lower chance of detection. Probably some riders have more sophisticated ways of cheating though. Honestly it's hilarious to see GCN presenters using the classic argument that they're probably clean because there's so much testing. That has been the argument of every doper ever! In fact the argument is so common that I think it sneaks into the psyche of the sport. ie: you're only cheating if you fail a test.