Cycling News: The current WorlTour season is just coming to an end and yet preparations for 2020 are already in full swing. This also applies to Bora-hansgrohe, who are already working together with their bike manufacturer Specialized for the new season.
To do this, some of the team's athletes and staff visited Specialized Bicycles' headquarters in Morgan Hill, California. The aim of the visit was to optimize the drivers. For this purpose, the position of the athletes was tested and optimized biomechanically with the help of Retül Technology as well as metabolically and aerodynamically in the Specialized Wind Tunnel.
Emanuel Buchmann, who finished 2019th in the 4 Tour de France with the help of his teammates Patrick Konrad (Austrian Champion) and Gregor Mühlberger, worked on his position for two days with the help of a team of specialists at Morgan Hill.
When asked why the team chose this time of year for testing, Patxi Villa said: "Why now? We raced the Lombardy circuit on Saturday. The shape is good, the weight is the same. If we come in November, the conditions wouldn't be the same. Now the riders are relaxed; if we come during the season, there's more stress. Now the riders can enjoy the whole experience. This is the right time to come."
“Using Retül technology, we can determine the athlete's limits in terms of flexibility and mobility. Using 3D motion capture technology, we record their angles and movement patterns on the bike to achieve an optimal biomechanical position. After the Retül-Fit, we head to the Human Performance Lab, where we subject them to a metabolic test to determine their functional performance range. The goal of the metabolic test is to minimize the power loss and fatigue associated with overly aggressive positions. With this knowledge, we enter the win tunnel, where the goal is to capture drag and ultimately optimize the position for speed." , said Todd Carver, Applied Technologies and Human Performance.
With the incorporation of more time trials or TTT into the GrandTours, one of the main areas of focus was TT position and aerodynamics.
“We work specifically, very TT-oriented, you look at the last big tours, most of them are won in time trials, team time trials or individually. You just have to be really good, not just okay, or else it's really difficult to catch up after the TT. As cycling becomes more scientific, individual efforts become more important. - Patxi Villa
