2026 TDF - Fastest average speed ever

[Big John]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/pro-cyc...ance-set-new-record-for-fastest-ever-edition/

Can we believe it's done without PEDs? I wonder what David Walsh makes of it? I'm not out to start WW3 but it would be interesting to see what our members make of it. Keep it friendly and play nice please. AI puts it down to better training and better equipment but we've all been duped once. Is history repeating itself?

 

[Dorset Boy]

David Walsh seems to have no concerns from the interviews I've heard in the last couple of days.

 

[misforturob]

Faster bikes, faster clothes and most importantly fuelling strategies that allow the race to be on from the start

 

[wakemalcolm]

David Walsh seems to have no concerns from the interviews I've heard in the last couple of days.

Agree, there was a great interview on one of the podcasts with Walsh. He expressed absolutely no qualms whilst explaining that when Armstrong was around, his cheating was an open secret kept by an atmosphere of fear.

 

[Pblakeney]

Faster bikes, faster clothes and most importantly fuelling strategies that allow the race to be on from the start

This.
Fuelling and hydration plays a massive part.

 

[mrushton]

Eqpt is better. Wheels, tyres, drivetrain. Riders train both on/off the bike and training can be targeted. Fuelling strategies have changed. Power meters also have changed the sport. Look how Sky and teams since can climb to power and catch riders who have ridden away.

 

[TakeTheHighRoad]

As mentioned above, the improvement in carbohydrate products is incredible. They can take so many carbs on now without being bloated or sluggish

Also, the Tour is generally shorter than it was 10-15 years ago. I was surprised to hear Pog's winning time was 73 hours something. When I were a lad (early 00s) it was always around 90 hours.

 

[Paulus]

As mentioned above, the improvement in carbohydrate products is incredible. They can take so many carbs on now without being bloated or sluggish

Also, the Tour is generally shorter than it was 10-15 years ago. I was surprised to hear Pog's winning time was 73 hours something. When I were a lad (early 00s) it was always around 90 hours.

I agree, the stages are generally shorter than they were 30, 40 years ago and with modern equipment, fuelling and training strategies i have no problem with the speeds that are now being raced at.

 

[mrushton]

Aren't stages shorter now (sub 200km) or is that considered in the timings. Tyres are apparently very fast now. Also the allowing a solo rider to go off on a long break has changed. A multi rider break may be allowed to go but now it's less likely the peloton want a rest on a long stage mid race.

 

[phreak]

Whatever training, nutrition, or equipment are supposedly behind things, it doesn't seem to have helped Bernal, who has gone from a Tour winner to bunch fodder in a few years, despite by his own admission, doing better power numbers than ever.

 

[TakeTheHighRoad]

Aren't stages shorter now (sub 200km) or is that considered in the timings. Tyres are apparently very fast now. Also the allowing a solo rider to go off on a long break has changed. A multi rider break may be allowed to go but now it's less likely the peloton want a rest on a long stage mid race.

Well if a stage is shorter, it's less time sat on the bike, therefore you can go harder/faster during the time you are racing

 

[phreak]

Aren't stages shorter now (sub 200km) or is that considered in the timings. Tyres are apparently very fast now. Also the allowing a solo rider to go off on a long break has changed. A multi rider break may be allowed to go but now it's less likely the peloton want a rest on a long stage mid race.

Funny isn't it? I presume most on here ride, and if we go flat out from the moment we leave the house, we don't do our best times on whatever climbs are on our route, yet now, we're told that they go flat out for longer (hence the higher average speeds) while also taking huge chunks out of climb times from 6 years ago. Fatigue doesn't seem to be an issue. Maybe just eating enough avoids fatigue altogether, but I'm fairly sure that's not how it works.

 

[phreak]

Aren't stages shorter now (sub 200km) or is that considered in the timings. Tyres are apparently very fast now. Also the allowing a solo rider to go off on a long break has changed. A multi rider break may be allowed to go but now it's less likely the peloton want a rest on a long stage mid race.

Actually, if you look at the Tours in the pre-Pogacar era, the editions won by Thomas and Bernal were around 3,350km each. This year's edition was 3,328km, and the last three years have all been around that distance.

The average speed in the in the Thomas edition was 40.23kmh, the Bernal edition was a tiny bit faster. 2024 was 41.8kmh, 2025 42.85kmh, and this year 43.33kmh. That's a shade under 7% faster in 7 years.

 

[mrushton]

Whatever training, nutrition, or equipment are supposedly behind things, it doesn't seem to have helped Bernal, who has gone from a Tour winner to bunch fodder in a few years, despite by his own admission, doing better power numbers than ever.

Bernal like Froome had a big crash and neither were the same afterwards. Same with Jonas. Riders now are breaking long (or short) standing records. Pog and Jonas broke the Tourmalet record set by Jonas 3 years earlier. Probably need to speak to someone in the performance dept. If there is a magic bullet out there Ineos haven't got it and neither have Visma.

 

[Once a Wheeler]

It is the march of science. There is no way you could achieve modern speeds on substantial lengths of unmade roads, ± 300 km-long stages and 1950s transmissions. Appreciate each age for what it brings, they all well worth the watching.