Pro Cycling's speed evolution – The new advances set to make the peloton even faster

In 2022, the Tour de France hit its fastest average speed of the modern era at a startling 42.03kph. It's hardly an outlier, with records across Cobbled Classics, multi-day stage races and all number of historic climbs tumbling in recent years. Cycling is becoming faster and faster – an issue which has provoked many critical conversations around safety, but also begs the question of why speed has increased, and more importantly when that trend may begin to slow down.

Well, after discovering the latest technical, physiological and strategic innovations mooted at the world’s largest cycling science conference, it’s no time soon.

The Science & Cycling Conference is a road cyclist’s dream where the cycling world’s greatest brains assemble for two days of presentations, workshops and masterclasses on either the latest advances on the professional circuit or within the labs. 

It takes place annually in the week before the Tour de France Grand Depart with the most recent edition happening in Florence, Italy. Along with WorldTour practitioners and leading academics, Cyclingnews was in attendance and one of the key discussion points was the major gains still to be made in cycling speed.

Aero revolution?

For years, aerodynamic sensors have flirted with a breakthrough, the likes of Notio – a spin-off of Argon-18 – used by experts at WorldTour teams and coaches but not deemed usable enough for mass consumption. Companies continue to work on a training tool that, in theory, could have the same impact on elite and amateur cyclists as power meters. That includes the brand who’ve created quite a buzz in recent times, UK-based Body Rocket, whose investors include Alex Dowsett.

The Body Rocket system comprises sensors that attach to your seatpost and handlebars, plus sensor-loaded pedals that replace your existing pedals. An air-speed sensor is also included that attaches to the front of your bike.

In Florence, Body Rocket’s tech wizard Callum Barnes, or “Einstein”, revealed how the system could be the one that could – we repeat, ‘could’ – lay the foundations for aerodynamic sensors becoming a riding staple.

“We compared drag-force measurements carried out simultaneously in a wind tunnel and the Body Rocket device and, on average, the Body Rocket system agreed within 2.3% of the wind-tunnel data, under different wind speeds, yaw angles and body positions, and reliably detects aerodynamic gains due to positional and equipment changes,” Barnes explained. “As a byproduct of its design, it also enables monitoring of cycling positions, providing valuable feedback otherwise not available to the athlete.”

This clearly was no independent study – we look forward to independent studies and real-life feedback – but there’s a feeling that this could – again, could – be the one, partly because it’s such a different aero approach than other efforts on the market.

“The Body Rocket system’s fundamentally different to other aero sensors as it does away with estimations i.e. measuring airspeed and power then back calculating to find drag,” said Barnes. “Instead, it directly measures drag through sensors at the contact points of the bike providing a much more accurate drag value and CdA [co-efficient of drag multiplied by frontal area’. This is why the Body Rocket system is the only system where it’s possible to make direct comparisons with that measured in the wind tunnel.”

Barnes also presented a machine-learning project he’s working on. “There’s still work to be done but it’d allow for the user to know what position they are in at every moment in time and when the conditions change, or the athlete is on a different part of the course they can then be notified to change position, optimising themselves live. This shifts the focus from thinking you only have one optimal position to having numerous for different conditions and courses.”

There’s no public deadline for that project. There is for the Body Rocket system, which will be available to consumers from May of this year for £2,950.

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Turning a corner (fast)

While aerodynamics is the easiest area to imagine gains in speed, some of the most pivotal changes in overall rider speed could happen when a bike travels at its very slowest.

“How proficient you are at cornering is vital,” said Uno-X sports scientist Thomas Lagoute. “There are many turns in road races – many of them are 90° or even more – and coaches see them as potentially decisive features in a race. Even less acute turns can be important if they’re positioned before key efforts such as climbs or cobbled sectors. This is due to the accordion effect [a term in physics whereby fluctuations in the motion of a travelling body cause disruptions in the flow of elements following it] and subsequent tactical necessities to control the race.”

To that end, Lagoute analysed Uno-X rider data through 10 corners at Gent-Wevelgem. Via GPS and power data, Lagoute examined corner entry and exit speed, the energy cost of recovering that lost speed and the maximum power output through the corners.

“Sharp corners have a typical ‘anatomy’,” Lagoute added. “They often result in a reduction in power into the turn and a short but large power surge coming out of the apex that’s well above critical power [i.e. severe intensity domain]. 

“For half of the riders we investigated, this surge was above their maximal 60-second power. The accumulation of those high-intensity efforts can reduce the ability to mobilise high power at the decisive moment of the race.”

All in all, Lagoute revealed, a “low estimate” would be that over 10% of the total energy expended in the ‘red zone’ is associated with cornering sections. And that more experienced riders spent less time burning through high levels of energy during these sections.

What does this mean for pro riders and amateurs alike? “Ultimately, we’re talking about acceleration – the less speed you lose during a corner, the less you have to regain afterward,” said Lagoute. “So, aside from positioning – it’s better to have a clear way to corner efficiently – improving cornering technique’s a must. To that end, having a crack at disciplines like cyclo-cross would be a beneficial exercise.

“Also note that if you’re racing an urban event like a criterium, there’s a tactical trade-off between facing more wind at the front versus the acceleration costs of being out back and correcting the accordion effects after a turn. This might require playing around with to see how you feel in both scenarios.”

Lagoute signed off by suggesting that ‘turn analysis’ would become more popular and should look at detailed feedback on downhill sections where technique is even more important. “Further research should also investigate the speed and power patterns of different riders while cornering (loss of speed, smoothness of acceleration, torque/cadence),” he said. “A focus on the physiological variables could also be of interest; in other words, how long does it take to recover from that power spurt.”

How respiratory tracking can improve performance

Heart rate, power output, heart rate variability, sweat rate, blood glucose… Road cycling in 2025 is metric madness with, if you choose, every cell in your body under surveillance in the hope of riding stronger and longer. So, it seems somewhat incongruous that the action you’re arguably most aware of when cycling – your breathing – remains analysis-free. But that could be set to change…

Tyme Wear is a US company that’s been around since 2014, of which much of that period has been spent working on a smart shirt. Rounds of investment have seen the apparel come to market.

How does it work? A sensor tracks breathing rate, breathing volume and minute ventilation, which it can then use to determine a rider’s first (VT1) and second ventilatory thresholds (VT2) plus their VO2max. 

To dig a little deeper, VT1 is a marker of intensity observed in an athlete’s breathing at a point where lactate begins to accumulate in the blood. As the intensity of riding cranks up, VT1 is identified at the point where the breathing rate cranks up. You’ll know when you’re at VT1 as you’ll no longer be capable of talking comfortably.

VT2 is when lactate is rapidly stacking up in the blood and you’re breathing heavily. Now, speaking is no longer possible. VT2’s also known as the respiratory compensation threshold (RCT) and the onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA).

These are commonly calculated in the lab via breathing apparatus to assess how hard your body is working and, ultimately, create specific training zones for specific training adaptations. Which, down the line, with consistent training will make you a faster, stronger cyclist.

That’s all very well, of course, but how valid are the results? According to PhD researcher Giuseppe Greco of the University of Rome, extremely. Greco and his team had six competent road cyclists in their early- to mid-20s, who weighed around 69kg with a VO2max of just under 60ml/kg/min, perform an intermittent exercise test and a ramp test, which increases power output every minute.

The intermittent test consisted of 10 tough 10-second bursts interspersed with 50-second bouts of recovery. Effort cranked up by 10% with each burst until they’d reached capacity in the final set. The ramp test then started from just 20 watts with power output increasing by 30 watts per minute until the riders had reached exhaustion. Respiratory and heart-rate response was measured via both the Tyme Wear smart shirt and the gold-standard breathing apparatus.

What did Greco and his crew find? That the Tyme Wear sensor proved impressive against the gold standard and better than heart-rate analysis. “It detected changes in the body's response to exercise better than heart rate, which is known for experiencing a lag and is why measuring respiratory frequency is arguably a better marker of physical effort than heart rate,” Greco explained. “Ultimately, these findings suggest that heart-rate monitoring should be complemented by ‘respiratory-frequency monitoring during cycling.

Soupless and the software revolution

Jon Iriberri is one of the world’s most experienced bike fitters. His palmarès goes back 26 years, 16 of which have been working with professional teams. Currently, he’s refining the set-ups of Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert over at Team Visma Lease a Bike, but his wider aim is to help riders of all abilities perfect the art of pedalling.

“That’s why I’ve developed new torque profile analysis software that gives immediate feedback after a training session or race,” the Basque explained. “It easily identifies if there is a pedalling problem and how to amend it.”

Iriberri revealed that he loved Pioneer power products and their force-monitoring technology, both from a training and bike-fitting stance. Shimano bought Pioneer in 2020 and closed it soon afterwards, focusing on its own technology. That meant the disappearance of the force-vector display that many, like Iriberri, saw as nectar in improving a cyclist’s pedal stroke.

Now, he’s developed his own software to take raw data from power meters in order to undertake advanced analytics. These, he breaks down into several areas around the 360 including maximum and medium torque; arch degree (the degree at which the toe is lower than the heel) at 90° maximum torque; and balance between right- and left-hand power.

The software is still in the developmental phase but, Iriberri predicted, could result in a greater understanding of pedalling dynamics and a significant performance improvement. “We could be looking at performance improvements of 7-8% by really focusing on pedal-stroke improvements and the subsequent extra torque,” he said.

For now, Iriberri suggests that the fastest way to improve your pedal stroke is by working on lower cadence at higher intensities. “If you’re new to regular riding, start at 50-55rpm cadence and reduce it. Any lower to begin with and you could have knee issues,” he said. “Experienced riders can ride at 30-35prm for 10mins without trouble.”

High-speed therapy

“Some people are afraid of spiders or snakes. I’m afraid of speed. It’s a phobia.” The words of the retired Thibaut Pinot at the 2013 Tour de France, where the French hopeful had fallen behind the leaders during a mountain descent in the Pyrenees. Ever since a serious crash during his younger years, Pinot struggled on descents.

And he’s not the only one. All of us who’ve suffered a crash, especially downhill, know that the mental scars can take far longer to heal than the physical. If they heal at all.

How a rider recovers from such a trauma is an under-researched area, which Carol Royle of Northumberland University in England set about redressing with her recent research, ‘Investigating Anxiety in Highly Trained and Elite Cyclists.’ (Okay, this one isn’t necessarily speed-based but, in our eyes, is more important than that as it highlights a common and rarely talked about issue.)

“We know that debilitative anxiety exists in highly trained and elite cyclists after crashes,” Royle said. “Cyclists found that having a crash affected their performance times and it also created hesitation in performance.”

That’s why Royle had a group of top road cyclists who’d “reported intrusive images of crashes, which continue in the present with the symptoms reaching sub-clinical level”, undergo a series of virtual EMDR therapy sessions.

EMDR, or eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy, is a psychological treatment that’s been found to reduce the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. It involves recalling the traumatic incident in detail while making eye movements, usually by following the movement of a therapist’s finger. Other methods may include the therapist tapping their finger or playing sounds. It’s not clear exactly how EMDR works, but it’s been proven to help trauma sufferers change the negative view they have of a traumatic experience.

“The study’s ongoing,” Royle concluded, “but the initial results are promising and intervention has had a ‘treatment effect’.”

Could this be something teams roll out in the future? A little digging discovered cyclists are already using EMDR therapy. Former professional cyclist Imogen Cotter was involved in a head-on road collision with a van when out on her bike in January 2022. The accident left her with a broken patella and a displaced fracture in her distal radius, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. Though she retired in April 2024 citing continual psychological trauma from the crash, she revealed at the time that she “started properly with a therapist in February of 2024, with a type of therapy called EMDR, which helped me massively”.

The key takeaway? EMDR is certainly worth looking into if you’re suffering mentally from a crash.

The dangerous implications of ever-increasing speed

Royle’s presentation reminded us that with speed and excitement often comes horrendous crashes, like that at last year’s Tour of the Basque Country.

Crashes of that severity have stimulated debate amongst the UCI and the elite riders around improving safety. To that end, at the start of January, Wout van Aert and Chris Froome both discussed gearing size restrictions to slow down the peloton.

“At some point, I think we’re maybe going to have to have the discussion about limiting the progression of technology in the sport to accommodate for the safety aspect,” Froome told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “That could be something as simple as limiting the gears we’re using.”

The UCI’s regulations already feature a number of rules designed with safety in mind, such as making helmets mandatory during competition and banning the super-tuck riding position, adopted by Froome during his heyday.

In our deep dive into how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the WorldTour peloton, Steven Latré, head of AI at Imec who is working with Lotto, told us, “I know there’s current work looking at AI models to detect certain safety issues along a parcours. There are often crashes in the peloton. Of course, sometimes it’s down to the behaviour of the cyclists, but sometimes it’s down to the design of the route. You’ll be able to pinpoint the potentially dangerous sections with AI.”

Time will tell what safety regulations the UCI will implement, but this is an issue that, quite rightly, won’t go away.

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