Wind

Yesterday's Stage 3 - Marseille to La Grande-Motte, wasn't billed to be anything special. A relatively flat 120 mile ride in which riders were expected to "take the day off" relatively speaking. But they forgot about the X-Factor, the one thing that no one can see, the Wind.

To give us some perspective on the importance of wind we've brought in the wind racing expert, Dennis Conner...what?...we couldn't get Dennis?...[papers shuffling]...Oh, we have Inigo Montoya, from Princess Bride.



Texasdan - Inigo, what did you think about Lance's breakaway?



Inigo - "Wonder if he is using the same wind we are using?"



Texasdan - Appreciate the technical explanation Inigo. Guess we're on our own.



I'm sure that quote ran through the minds of several riders as a gust of wind cut the peloton in half and 27 riders at the head of the peloton were allowed to pull away as if the rest of the riders were riding through molasses. It was an amazing sight, but what made it all the more spectacular was the fact that Lance was in the breakaway leaving many of the tour leaders reeling in the wind. My adrenalin was pumping as I wondered if Lance and the others would be able to maintain the breakaway to the finish of the stage. It was Tour racing at its finest!



The breakaway group was able to maintain the gap and Lance finished the day with a net gain of 41 seconds over many of the top riders which launched him into 3rd place overall! So what happened? How did the wind affect the pack of tightly bunched riders differently? In typical bike racing style, the racers ride in a moderately paced group called the Peloton. They do this for many reasons but one is to conserve energy by spreading the wind resistance out over the group versus taking the wind on their own. By drafting, the riders utilize about 30% less energy so it makes a lot of sense to stick together. The safest place to be in the peloton is at or near the front, but it's also the toughest because that's where the pace is set. Today's stage was windy which adds another factor especially when the wind shifts from a strong headwind to a crosswind. The breakaway occurred as the peloton was fighting a strong head wind up to a 90 degree right hand turn. They went from a head wind where the peloton shares the wind load like ducks flying in a V to a crosswind where each is almost on his own. The 90 degree turn also caused the riders to slow down and thin out in order to make the corner. This gave a distinct advantage to the riders who rounded the turn first and were able to sprint out of the turn and that's where Lance was able to position himself. Team Columbia planned the breakaway and led the peloton into the turn. The rest of the riders literally fought for position behind Columbia coming into the turn and the lucky few who were there were able to match Columbia's sprint and the breakaway was formed. Once formed, the breakaway succeeded because the whole of Team Columbia were all present and able to work together keeping the pace extremely high. Their goal was to deliver their top sprinter, Mark Cavendish, to the finish line in first place and that's exactly what they did, along with Lance who was just there for the ride.



So Lance can thank the wind today for an amazing 41 second time advantage on what in most situations would have been an ordinary lack luster stage.



Get ready for more excitement as today's Stage 4 team time trial will be ridden through these same type of winds. Will Lance's power house team Astana allow him to finish the day in Yellow?