49
votes
Accepted
Why are puncture-resistant tires not used in professional races?
To a racer, rolling resistance and handling top the list; durability is far down the list. The coefficient of rolling resistance (Crr) for a racing tire on typical French or Italian roads used during ...
- 14.2k
36
votes
Accepted
Is doping still a thing in pro cycling (2024)?
This is a good question. The problem is that we don't know for sure. Joe Lindsey, writing for the Escape Collective, said essentially this, that it is normal to want answers, but we simply aren't able ...
- 35.4k
27
votes
Accepted
TdF: How does putting one team member in a break away help the rest of the team?
The full answer depends exactly on the teams involved and the composition of the break but, in general, the key to understanding this isn't physics as much as it is game theory.
In a race like the ...
- 14.2k
20
votes
Why are puncture-resistant tires not used in professional races?
Puncture resistant tires are heavier relative to non-puncture resistant tires. They also have sloppier handling/less control/higher rolling resistance, and are typically harder to change (though ...
- 46.4k
19
votes
Accepted
Why does the Tour de France have a minimum weight limit on the bicycles?
The 6.8 kg limit is due to UCI regulation 1.3.019, which you can find here, and thus applies to all races sanctioned by the UCI. It was originally instituted in 2000 in order to ensure that ...
- 14.2k
15
votes
Why are puncture-resistant tires not used in professional races?
If you have set of identical riders, and one rider puts a slower tyre on, they will lose if no-one gets a puncture (let's simplify and assume a time trial so we can ignore effects of the peloton). ...
- 61.4k
12
votes
Why do all riders in the Tour wear WHITE bike shoes?
They don't. Here are some links to examples:
https://www.bikeradar.com/features/tour-de-france-shoes-gallery/
https://www.bikeradar.com/features/top-5-custom-road-shoes-at-the-tour-de-france/
https://...
- 46.4k
12
votes
Accepted
Were titanium road bikes ridden in the Tour de France?
According to this page, Luis Ocana won the tour on a Ti bike; Lance Armstrong (attach all necessary asterisks to his name) rode a Ti time-trial bike in 1999. It looks like Lotto raced on Litespeed Ti ...
- 30.4k
11
votes
Accepted
Disc brake equipped time trial bikes in grand tour
The main reason is the 2020 Specialized Shiv provided by their sponsor is only produced in a disc version.
You can see an article about the bike here:
https://www.bikeradar.com/news/specialized-...
- 18.4k
11
votes
Why is doping illegal in Tour de France?
You have to draw the line somewhere. If you allow all doping, then the winner will be the one most willing to sacrifice their long-term health to use the most drugs and maximise performance ...
- 4,187
11
votes
Do teams change gearing depending on the Tour De France stage?
Pros can and do change gearing for any reason they want to - terrain, rain, wind, phase of the moon. It wouldn't even surprise me if they change gears based on inputs from doctors/sports ...
- 10.8k
10
votes
Is Claris today better than best groupset from 10 years ago?
There are 2 metrics on which today's Claris is "better" than Dura-Ace 9000: range and low-speed performance (bigger cassette sprockets, and possibility to have gravel-ish sized chainrings). ...
- 22.8k
9
votes
Attacking during a race when your competitor has a mechanical failure?
It's just considered to be bad sportsmanship to take advantage of another rider's mechanical problem. The underlying idea is that, as much as possible, the race shouldn't be determined by random ...
- 11.9k
8
votes
Why is doping illegal in Tour de France?
Allowing Doping defers the risk of participating until after the end of the event. In normal situations, risk taking that does not pan out is normally associated with losing, so taking risks is self ...
- 52.4k
8
votes
Attacking during a race when your competitor has a mechanical failure?
There's also the somewhat nebulous concept of whether or not "the race is on". Basically if you're cruising along in the peloton it would be extremely bad form to suddenly attack out of nowhere when ...
- 691
8
votes
Accepted
Grand Tour rider holding two jerseys - what do they wear?
The riders don't get to choose.
The leader of a classification in a stage race must wear the jersey of the classification that they are leading. In instances where one rider is leading multiple ...
- 2,085
8
votes
Accepted
Under what circumstances is a domestique a rebel (or even a traitor)?
The role of van Aert was precisely to win stages. He was not an ordinary domestique at all, at least not in flat and classic-like stages. He was doing supporting role in mountain stages and when the ...
- 16.8k
7
votes
What help can the domestiques provide on mountain climbs?
Pro's are FAST - they ride up mountains at a speed where they can still gain significant benefit from drafting.
As witnessed in the stage you are mentioning it can often be quite windy in the ...
- 18.4k
7
votes
Grand Tour rider holding two jerseys - what do they wear?
The leader of the General Classification (GC) always wears the maillot jaune (yellow) regardless of any other jerseys they may be leading in. Inevitably on the second day of the Tour, the fastest ...
- 5,452
7
votes
Do teams change gearing depending on the Tour De France stage?
Yes, they have choice. All three component groups you mentioned have a range of different chainring and cassette options and nothing in the rules prevents using components from a different ...
- 22.3k
7
votes
Were titanium road bikes ridden in the Tour de France?
Yes. In 1991 the "Z" Team lead by Greg LeMond, rode Merlin Ti bikes.
In 1991, a year after winning his third Tour de France, Greg LeMond’s Z Team came back to the race on prototypes of the ...
- 5,452
6
votes
Accepted
Are there rules for how many riders can be in a World Tour team?
The UCI does have rules for the maximum number of riders. The base max is 28, but you can get extra spots for having new pros on your roster, up to 2 extra spots. The rule comes from section "2.15.110 ...
- 611
6
votes
Accepted
Mechanic and top rider's bike on right side of team car - why?
Yes, the idea is to have the quickest bike change possible for the person it matters most for.
With the bike attached on the same side as the mechanic's, he just opens his door, turns, and grabs the ...
- 438
6
votes
Accepted
Last no helmet ride in the Tour de France
Helmets were entirely optional until 5 May 2003.
On 5 May 2003 the following rules were introduced https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090208/http://oldsite.uci.ch/english/news/news_2002/20030502i.pdf
...
- 4,240
6
votes
Most stage wins without a Tour de France title
A bit of searching turns up a tie. In the 1930 Tour Charles Pélissier won 8 stages but the overall winner was André Leducq who only won 2 individual stages. In the 1976 Tour Freddy Maertens won 8 ...
- 5,452
6
votes
Is Claris today better than best groupset from 10 years ago?
Modern claris in 2022 is an 8 speed system, with either dual or triple chainring setup.
https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/claris-2400.html
DuraAce 7900 was released in 2008 and is a 10 ...
- 129k
6
votes
Were titanium road bikes ridden in the Tour de France?
The question has already been answered, but this is why I think titanium never really made it into the Tour. Ti frames are either a bit lighter or similar weight to steel bikes. They were also tricky ...
- 35.4k
6
votes
Is doping still a thing in pro cycling (2024)?
This seems like a question that would be best answered after-the-fact. Even then, the best we can hope for is a "maybe".
That said, it does feel like the worst is behind us. As in all sports,...
- 4,552
5
votes
Why can't Yellow Jersey change hands on last day of Tour De France?
Unlikely to occur, but of course a crash or medical withdrawal could result in the yellow jersey changing hands on the final day.
- 71
5
votes
Accepted
If RAMROD were a mountain stage of the Tour de France how would the climbs be categorized?
The TdF mountain stage I know best is stage 18 from 2017. It was that year's Etape du Tour, and I rode it* solo the next year.
Strava rates the main climbs and some sections of them. For those that ...
- 61.4k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible