Tour de France: How fast do they ride?

Depends, but when there just cruising, their going around 24-26 mph. During hard climbs in the alps they will go as slow as 15 mph while topping out around 65-70 at some points during descents. During time trials they will average 35 mph depending on how tough the course is. In the final 10 miles or so of an average stage, where the peloton is tying to catch the leaders they will speed up to 35 mph, depending on how large of a gap there is and how determined the teams of the good sprinters are.

Versus had them at 38mph yesterday about 10k from the finish.

For a top pro, a cruising speed of 25-28 mph on straight, level roads with no wind is similar to your normal base training default pace in terms of effort. This might feel to them like 6:30 per mile feels to a good college distance runner (without the impact stress, so 4 or so hours of it - plus a faster, wind-up finish for 30-60 minutes - is similar to about 1.5 to 2 hours of running). It's conversational but it's still going to deliver a "maintenance" sort of training effect. If a 30:00 10k runner was going along with others at 6:30 per mile and had to stop to tie his shoe, he'd wouldn't worry at all that he couldn't catch up and recover quickly after the catchup. Same with cyclists who can get a flat changed in 20 seconds or less.

The guys at the front of the peloton are working a little more, so when the speed gets up around 30 mph, they're starting to feel like it's a pretty strong tempo effort, similar to the 30:00 10k guy running at about 5:15 pace. If it gets up to near 35 mph, the guys at the front are now well into the red zone, starting to hurt and thinking about how many more minutes they'll be able to carry the pace, while the freshest of the guys drafting behind are still in strong tempo mode.

At cruising speed (25-28 mph), pros typically put out about 220-270 watts (depending on their position in the group), which is relatively easy for them. Most of them can produce over 500 watts for 20 minutes and a few can top out at over 1,500 watts for a 5-second sprint. Watts per kilogram is a good measure of time trial potential. Fabian Cancellara, for example, has been known to produce over 6.6 watts/kilogram (about 535 watts) for 20 minutes.

Sunshine - Very nice and informative. I have always wondered about how strenuous those Tour de France days were for the riders.

thats some serious doping

Good job of putting it in running terms, but it really isn't similar at all. The peloton rides at like 100 bpm on the flat stages, you can get up to that doing a brisk walk.

Heart rate is a poor measure of comparison. You'll almost always have a lower HR on the bike at the same internal effort because of the lack of impact.

Alan

Runningart2004 wrote:

Heart rate is a poor measure of comparison. You'll almost always have a lower HR on the bike at the same internal effort because of the lack of impact.

Alan

I agree it's a poor comparison, but I don't see what the lack of impact has to do with it. I thought comfortable running elevates heart rate much more than cycling because running uses much more of your body simultaneously, whereas cycling concentrates the effort more in fewer muscles.

There seems to be some confusion with mp/h versus km/h.

Time trials don't actually average 35 mph. Can you name many tour guys who have ever averaged that speed for a TT never mind it being the average speed?

When going up steeper hills the guys in front are sometimes only going 15 km/h.

Good job of putting it in running terms, but it really isn't similar at all. The peloton rides at like 100 bpm on the flat stages, you can get up to that doing a brisk walk.[/quote]

I did a bit of cycling before starting running. You would kill yourelf just keeping up with them for 10 miles on the flat at the pace they cruise at

They are amongst the highest trained athletes in the world

Of course these cyclist are amongst the highest trained athletes in the world. But then so are distance runners at a comparable level. For example, sub 28:00 10k runners can handle sub 6:00 pace for base pace training runs. The vast majority of runners in the top 5% of all runners would find 6:00 pace as a base training pace beyond their ability. The average runner can't even handle 6:00 pace for 2 miles.

The fact that the TDF last 21 days, shows that the stress on the body per hour can't be as intense as the stress during competitive distance running.

Watts per kilogram is a good measure of time trial potential. Fabian Cancellara, for example, has been known to produce over 6.6 watts/kilogram (about 535 watts) for 20 minutes.[/quote]

Good post Sunshine but watts per kilo is a poor measure of time trial potential. It is a good indicator of climbing potential but in a flat time trial weight is not very relevant.

6.6w/kg is widely quoted as the power to weight ratio needed to win the Tour, and will likely produce a good time trial performance, but Cancellara's inability to go with the best in the mtns indicates he has never achieved it.

Power to drag ratio is the key determinant of time trial success.

On a flat, easy day this year the TDF riders covered 95 miles in 3.5 hours, so the average speed was in the high 20s. Accomplished non-pro riders (Cat 3) post that kind of average speed during short, intense races.

Oooopps ... math meltdown. 3 X 32 = 96 so they averaged a bit better than 31 I suppose.

Not quite sure how this translates but I was able to peak at 19.54 W/kg (1465 Watts), average 11.05 W/kg (829 W), and min produce 6.13 W/kg (460 W) in a 30 sec anaerobic wingate. I am 75 kg. How does this compare to different fitness categories? I have not been able to find anything. I would like to know what an average professional can do in that sort of test. I have a road bike and love riding but don't ride much because I'm committed to a college team. Should I focus on riding instead of running? 3:59 1500m runner, 9:40 steeple chaser...

'The fact that the TDF last 21 days, shows that the stress on the body per hour can't be as intense as the stress during competitive distance running'

Maybe but compare the stress during a 30 mins on a climb and it probably higher any 30 mins of a marathon

Anway the point I was making is that even when they are seemingly cruising in the pack on the flat they are still shifting and the average good club cyclist would get dropped even on the easy bits

Well, it depends. The local hammer ride that I've attended regularly averages ~28mph for an hour, and all sorts of mediocre guys and good women can hang in there. I've even seen women bridge gaps at 30+ mph. So that's not that tough for the guys in the pack. The guys on the front, however, are suffering terribly at those speeds, so if you fall behind the caravan on a flat stage you're in trouble.

Flat tour stages can average 30mph for long periods of time, but rarely the whole stage. Usually the peleton goes just fast enough to catch the break by the end of the stage. A fast pace can be tiring for the riders, but it can also be nice to get it out of the way quickly.

Single Speed wrote:

Oooopps ... math meltdown. 3 X 32 = 96 so they averaged a bit better than 31 I suppose.

They do NOT average 31 mph for 3 hour stages regularly.

A lot of the time they are sitting at 25-26 mph over a flat which in a pack like that over a flat stage is nothing. Sure they can put the hammer down and ride the last hour at 30-35mph to catch a break but that's not typical. Also If you are pulling 30mph at the front of the pack you are not cruising at tempo effort if you are there for any period of time, I don't care who you are.

The average speed for the whole TDF, hills and all (course record), was set by Lance at 23.8 MPH in 2007 or so.