The performance was so good that some have described it as the greatest climbing performance in the history of the Tour de France. Pogačar set a new record time on the Plateau de Baile – beating Marco Pantani’s previous record by three minutes and thirty seconds.
Prior to this year’s edition the climb had been contested six times in the Tour since 1998, the most recent climb being in 2015 when the stage was won by Joaquim Rodríguez.
Pantani’s time of 43:28 stood the test of time, with the likes of Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador unable to beat it. On Sunday, Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel were all fast.
With multiple riders attempting to break the 26-year-old record, the question ‘How?’ The question seems appropriate.
While great climbing is about the ratio of power to weight, the full picture of climbing performance is a far more complex cocktail of elements. Bikes, equipment and clothing have all taken leaps forward since Pantani’s ascension in 1998.
The question is, how much of Pogacar’s record-breaking pronunciation can be attributed to technological advances? We tried to answer the question.
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Table of Contents
ToggleAero can be almost everything
It is easy to dismiss the 8% aerodynamics on an average 15km climb. Yet Pogasar’s average speed for the entire climb to the Plateau de Beille was 23.5 km/h.
Once he was alone and ready to take on Vanguard with five kilometers to go, he increased his speed to an average of 26.2 km/h. At these speeds, aerodynamics still make up a large percentage of the resistance force in front of the rider.
Aerodynamics are extremely complex and we can spend thousands of words and dozens of graphs to estimate the advantage of just one air component at this speed in these weather conditions.
For the purposes of this feature, this is an estimate based on the widely accepted benefits of several components established through aerodynamic testing (we’ve done some of that ourselves – check out our wind tunnel helmet test).
Firstly, the riding styles between Pantani and Pogasar are very different, with Pogasar spending most of the time climbing seated, while Pantani prefers to get out of the saddle on the drops. From a simple CDA perspective, Pantani would need to put out more watts than Pogacar to compensate for his less aerodynamic riding position.
Pogacar, Wingegaard and Evenepoel were wearing aerodynamically optimized skinsuits that use high-tech fabrics and special tailoring to ensure the garment was as slippery as possible through the air. Pogačar and everyone else in the modern peloton would have had a measurable advantage over Pantani wearing the traditional jersey and bib shorts outfit.
The rider is the largest aerodynamic constraint, so ensuring that their drag is as low as possible is the greatest aerodynamic advantage achieved by modern cycling.
In some tests conducted by mywindsock.com they found that on a flat 40 km/hectare track the skinsuit could save over 20 watts compared to a typical jersey and bib configuration. At the slightly slower speed at which Pogsar climbed he would not experience this level of benefit, but when compared to that effective CDA increase at lower speeds, it would be a reasonable estimate to suggest that Pogsar would gain about 5 watts on Pantani’s clothing. Profit was made.
Pantani was also riding box section aluminum rims from Campagnolo, with 21 mm tubular tires stuck on them. Although these were lightweight they offered little in terms of aerodynamics. By comparison, Pogacar was running on a set of Enve SES 4.5 carbon clincher wheels set up tubeless. These wheels have a depth of 40 mm at the front and 50 mm at the rear, with a wide rim profile optimized for its wide 30 mm tyres.
It is difficult to accurately estimate the benefits of using deeper section rims, but at 23.5 km/h it will certainly benefit Pogacar on this one.
It’s fair to assume that the difference between box section rims and deep section carbon rims is worth a handful of watts even at the low speeds associated with climbing.
Finally on the aerodynamic front is the frame itself. The V4RS used by Pogacar may not be a perfect aero bike, but compared to Pantani’s Bianchi it can be considered one.
The fully integrated cables, aero profile cockpit and blade profile all allow the bike to cut through the air. On the flat there is likely to be a saving of around 10 watts from the aero bars alone, although, at the speed at which Pogacar was climbing, these benefits would be less pronounced. Overall the frameset is expected to save between five and 10 watts.
Estimate of total aerodynamic gain for Pogasar: 15-20 watts (except difference in riding position)
drivetrain efficiency
This is an area that still has room for improvement, especially for Pogačar, who was sometimes seen cross-chaining on climbs while sitting in the biggest sprocket on a larger chainring and cassette. Although an optimized chain line can provide a savings of about five watts, the Pogacar has a notable advantage over the Pantani when it comes to drivetrain efficiency as a result of lubrication.
Modern day chain lubrication is much better at reducing friction losses than the lubricants used in Pantani’s era. Wax treatment covers the chain with a paraffin-based wax that covers both the internal and external surfaces of the chain. Paraffin is accompanied by additives such as molybdenum disulfide which microscopically lubricates the surface of the chain allowing the links to engage with less friction. A good wax treatment can provide a savings of between six to eight watts compared to a premium oil-based lubricant.
Total drivetrain mileage for Pogacar: traditionally 6-8 watts
Tire width and rolling resistance
In 1998 Pantani’s Bianchi were fitted with 21 mm Vittoria Corsa CX TT tires mounted on Campagnolo’s Electron wheelset. The school of thought at the time was that a narrower tire was more efficient because it had a smaller contact patch resulting in less rolling resistance.
This theory has been repeatedly proven outdated in recent times as riders often run tires wider than 28 mm. Narrower tires are less efficient than wider tyres, this is because the surface they run on is affected to a greater extent.
If you zoom in a bit and look at the surface the tarmac is far from being smooth, even on seemingly ‘smooth’ roads the surface is full of imperfections which cause tire deflation. It is this distortion that causes energy loss through hysteresis.
The contact patch of a narrow tire is thinner but longer than that of a wide tyre, as a result, more of the tire deforms the road surface. In short, wider tires maintain a more rounded profile than narrower tyres. It is difficult to accurately calculate the exact mileage without knowing the specific tire pressures used by both riders.
Bicyclerollingresistance.com has abundant data on how efficient different tires are in different configurations. Although there is no data available for the specific tire setup used by Pantani, the Continental GP5000s TR tubeless tires used by Pogačar run about five watts faster than Vittoria’s Open Corsa CX III from 2014 in 23 mm width . If we expand this to the 21mm width used by Pantani the difference expands to almost seven watts.
Total rolling resistance advantage for pogacar: about 7 watts
Net profit to Pogakar
From these estimates, we can suggest that Pogsar had a technical advantage of about 40 watts over Pantani. So, physical and tactical factors aside, these advantages may help explain how riders can now beat the climbing records of the slightly problematic heroes of the 1990s.
Using mywindsock.com to calculate the effect of the 40 watt reduction on Pogsar’s performance shows that he would have completed the 15 km climb 2:47 slower.
This makes their performance record-breaking even on a technically level playing field, but the difference will be much less than 43 seconds.
The evolution of cycling equipment does not diminish how impressive Pogačar’s performance on the climb was.
After the stage, Pogačar himself said that Plato de Beil’s recital was his best performance to date.
Improved bike technology or not, Pogasar’s ride last Sunday was one of the most impressive climbing performances in the history of the sport.
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