Cycling News

10 February 2010

For the first time in my career I had the opportunity to test not only my time trial position but also my road position in a wind tunnel. This is something that I have always wanted to do. I’ve read many articles on cyclist who have changed their position ever so slightly following wind tunnel testing and had huge gains in their performance, so I was thrilled to have this opportunity.

Under the guidance of Team SKY physiologist Matt Parker and former professional time trialing guru Chris Boardman, who between them have hundreds maybe thousands of hours of experience in aerodynamic testing, I was able to make some minor position changes to both my bikes and get the improvement I’d hoped for. We also spent some time testing different clothing, wheels and helmets. The results blew me away! I’m not going to give away all the secrets I learned throughout the week, however an obvious one and one of the most significant things, is how different positions sitting on the bike effects how much power is required to maintain a certain speed. For example, on a road bike the difference between riding with your hands on the hoods compared to the drops is incredible. Now I just have to get out there and train to adapt to my new positions and most importantly learn to stay out of the wind.

Simon.

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