How fast can you go over 1.6km?

[m_sasso]

A fun first day/prologue TT at the Tour of Slovakia.

https://tiz-cycling.io/video/tour-of...-trial/?tape=2

[weisan]

Very interesting. Most riders' hand position is on the hoods.

[soulspinner]

Never seen a mile prologue.

[m_sasso]

Originally Posted by weisan

Very interesting. Most riders' hand position is on the hoods.

Most recent aero studies have shown on the hoods with horizontal forearms results in a lower CdA than in the drops.

I would have thought the speed would have been higher, around 52km/h.
Kilo track sprinters and 4K IP riders are hitting 60+km/h, I guess the extra 600m and road bike aero drag is a killer.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by soulspinner

Never seen a mile prologue.

Me either but I guess it's just the kick-off and a bit of a parade of sorts allowing for spectator energy etc. to make it fast and fun.

How common is this?

[m_sasso]

Originally Posted by charliedid

Me either but I guess it's just the kick-off and a bit of a parade of sorts allowing for spectator energy etc. to make it fast and fun.

How common is this?

The announcers talked about the occurrence during the broadcast and not unprecedented, there have been some almost as short in major tours over the past ten years. They mentioned the specifics, however I don't recall which races.

[Veloo]

Should've also banned the TT helmets and at most allowed a backwards cycling cap.

[flying]

Originally Posted by weisan

Very interesting. Most riders' hand position is on the hoods.

I have this pic but also remember Cancellara agreed

[Ronsonic]

I don't see hands on tops near the stem in a tuck in that pic. Not the power output as drops but still not bad.

One mile is a bit different for the aero / power equation.

[carpediemracing]

Often for smaller stage races, the promoter will do a very short prologue and prohibit TT bikes. This reduces the logistical load on the teams and on the promoter.

I helped with one (a one year race - Tour of PA, a week long U23 stage race). No TT bikes allowed. They said the wheels had to be mass start legal. There was a 100mm deep rim that was controversial, I can't remember if it was allowed or not (it wasn't approved at the time for mass start, but other wheels from same maker were).

As it was the teams were struggling to support even just the regular bikes. One team, a local team, had just a dinky compact car as their main team car, I think it was a Ford Escort wagon, but honestly I don't remember. It was so loaded I was surprised it drove across the state. And on top of that, one of their riders won a stage.

[carpediemracing]

As far as speed goes, having a hairpin U turn in the middle of things will definitely slow down the speed. It's more like two 800m time trials back to back, one with a starting ramp, one with a rolling start.