If we talk about aerodynamics, Don't worry, Malori is comingAdriano puts so much passion into it, that his observations become reasons for further investigation each timeIn particular, the Emilian noted in his notebook three passages from the last few weeks.
1) The position from Evenepoel's time trial.
2) The levers on the handlebars turned inwards, that Campenaerts (opening at Le Samyn) and Remco may have inspired and have now spread like wildfire.
3) The tactics and the riding position of Filippo Gana in Jebel Jais, uphill finish of the fourth stage of the UAE Tour after a climb of almost 30 kilometers, which allowed the Piedmontese to finish just three seconds behind Pogacar.
The opportunity is one we must seize, so we too begin to take notes, while Malori on the other end begins to explain.
Remco and the time trial
What surprises him are not the 165mm cranksets themselves, used in time trials by Evenepoel, but rather the tendency to shorten them compared to road bikes.
«Lengthening the cranks on a time trial bike makes sense for athletes with long levers – explains Malori – it's not very useful for short-line bikes. The fact that it has fewer wheels compared to road bikes probably depends on its agility. They are ratings that change from rider to rider, it occurs to me that he tried them, was happy with them and never wanted to change them again. However, I don't think this can change the habits of others., I doubt Ganna will try to change certain habits.
«The pedaling cadence is personal and You teach agility as a kid, maybe by doing trackLet's say that on the one hand the taboo of the very tall time trialist has fallen, on the other We know that the shorter you are, the more aerodynamic you are.Just think of the differences against the wind between someone like Evenepoel and Ganna with his broad shoulders. The same Bissegger who beat him at the UAE Tour is 1,78But going back to Remco, I don't see him as being at Pippo's level in a fast time trial, while in a tough one like the one in Tokyo, for example, he could hurt him."
Campenaerts' hands and arms: wide elbows and… uncomfortable brakes Evenepoel, like Campenaerts, also chose to rotate the brake levers To brake decisively, the Belgian must rotate his wrist
Campenaerts' hands and arms: wide elbows and… uncomfortable brakes Evenepoel, like Campenaerts, also chose to rotate the brake levers To brake decisively, the Belgian must rotate his wrist
The levers turned
The internal levers, partly the offspring of Victor Campenaerts and partly also of the young Belgian, are definitely trendy. The solution has in fact been accepted and copied by other professionals and is very popular among amateurs.
«Narrow handlebars – says Malori – and levers turned inwards. Definitely the push is the search for aerodynamics, but it can't be seen, besides being dangerous. Tight arms definitely improve penetration, but you lose driveability and responsivenessConsider that a rider spends 80 percent of his time on the bike with his hands on the levers. This means he will have the wrists loaded inwards and consequently the elbows and shoulders which must support that position.
«Besides being ugly to look at, the aerodynamic advantage is minimal because to compensate for narrow hands, you have to keep your elbows wide and in addition you lose driveability. If you have your hand loaded towards the inside, to brake you have to do a rotation of the wrist that lengthens reaction timeYou lose speed in the braking gesture and maybe on the descent at the Lombardy that half a second would be more useful for braking. These are things I don't understand, marginal gains are fine, but a rider should oppose certain ideas. I think that If you propose something like that to Valverde or Nibali, they'll throw the brakes in your face.... ".
This is Ganna's climbing position on the Jebel Jais climb: as beautiful as in a time trial And this is the time trial position of the Piedmontese, in the same UAE Tour: similarities with the road one
This is Ganna's climbing position on the Jebel Jais climb: as beautiful as in a time trial And this is the time trial position of the Piedmontese, in the same UAE Tour: similarities with the road one
Ganna and the climb
And then there's Ganna, who saves himself on a 30-kilometer climb, also managing thanks to its perfect position on the road bike, which looking at the gallery above, really follows the one on the time trial bike.
«A scary position – Malori smiles – which allowed him to make up the gap to the climbers. Clearly he managed to do it because the climb was rideable, long, and there was wind. That day Pippo brought the qualities of a time trialist to the climb, especially because no one has a road position like his on climbs. There's a photo he posted that evening on Instagram (the same one you see above, ed.) that deserves to be shown in cycling schools. When they accelerated, he would step away and manage the effort.
«When they dropped, he would come forward.It always went easily, except for the last stretch where he put the gear in. We were going up to 30 km/h and I think I can say that it had spent 50 watts less just thanks to the positionHe doesn't have the change of pace and he managed himself very well. They went up with whips, while Ganna remained consistent throughout. Obviously you can do it on climbs like this and not on Alpe d'Huez, but seeing it all low as it was, you understand how aerodynamics are important even on climbs."
