{"id":1907823,"date":"2026-04-27T07:53:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T04:53:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1907823"},"modified":"2026-04-27T07:53:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T04:53:05","slug":"how-camera-motos-helped-tow-the-spring-classics-to-record-speeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1907823","title":{"rendered":"How Camera Motos Helped Tow the Spring Classics to Record Speeds"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Jim Cotton<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Updated April 27, 2026 02:58PM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Tadej Poga\u010dar just set the fastest ever average speed, broke the record time on La Redoute, and reportedly set a historic power PB at Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge.<\/p>\n

At 44.43 kph, La Doyenne on Sunday was more than 2kph faster than any other edition in history.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar\u2019s lightning-fast fourth win in Li\u00e8ge put a big red exclamation point on the end of what must be the speediest spring in history.<\/p>\n

Best times were set at Strade Bianche, Paris-Roubaix, Gent-Wevelgem, La Fl\u00e8che Wallonne [when excluding the eyebrow-raising 2004 edition won by Davide Rebellin \u2013 ed], and Li\u00e8ge.<\/p>\n

It was an obliteration of the record books powered by physiological freaks.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, and Paul Seixas pressed the turbos on what\u2019s now a multi-year acceleration of pro cycling.<\/p>\n

This year, the four spring monuments were raced an average 0.8kph faster than in 2025.<\/p>\n

Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Roubaix, and Li\u00e8ge rocketed along at 45.61kph compared with 44.79kph in 2025.<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s four clicks faster than as recently as 10 years ago when the average trundled along at 41.57kph. Yes, four K P H<\/em> in a decade.<\/p>\n

The carbohydrate revolution, a devotion to aero, and a new breed of aggression are widely acknowledged to be the engines of cycling\u2019s new warp speed. We\u2019ve covered all the topics in depth here at Velo<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This year, an elephant might have made it into the room.<\/p>\n

The influence of camera motos.<\/p>\n

Spring monument speeds compared to 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Record before 2026<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n2016 (kph)<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n2025 (kph)<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n2026 (kph)<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MSR<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n46.11 (set 2024 \u2013 not broken in 2026)<\/span><\/td>\n42.39<\/span><\/td>\n45.28<\/span><\/td>\n45.17 (7th fastest on record)<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RVV<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n44.98 (set 2025 \u2013 not broken in 2026)<\/span><\/td>\n41.28<\/span><\/td>\n44.98<\/span><\/td>\n43.91 (4th fastest on record)<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
P-R<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n47.80 (set 2024)<\/span><\/td>\n43.91<\/span><\/td>\n46.92<\/span><\/td>\n48.91 (fastest on record)<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LBL<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n41.98 (set 2025)<\/span><\/td>\n38.70<\/span><\/td>\n41.98<\/span><\/td>\n44.43 (fastest on record)<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[On mobile? Scroll the chart right \u2013 ed.]<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u2018If you get the motorbike, they can\u2019t catch you\u2019<\/h2>\n
\"Social
Social media lit up about the impact of motos at Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo.<\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Riders have been exploiting the aero gains offered by camera motorbikes for years.<\/p>\n

And why wouldn\u2019t they?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not banned by the UCI and has become woven into the dark arts of the pro peloton.<\/p>\n

This landmark 2020 study by Belgian aerodynamicist Bert Blocken found that a rider who\u2019s even 10 meters behind a moto would benefit from 23 percent less drag \u2013 a gain of around 5 seconds per kilometer.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also proven to be a significant \u201cpushing\u201d impact created when a vehicle is close behind a small group of riders.<\/p>\n

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The presence \u2013 and impact \u2013 of the media motorcade was more widely acknowledged this spring than any other in memory.<\/p>\n

As former LBL winner Jakob Fuglsang put it bluntly in a recent interview \u2013 first rider into the draft wins.<\/p>\n

Even a few seconds spent choking on exhaust can be instrumental in carving the winning gap.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about attacking first. If you do that, you get the motorbike, then they can\u2019t catch you, even if they are four riders chasing together,\u201d Fuglsang told Feltet.DK.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMathieu van der Poel probably wouldn\u2019t have won E3 if he hadn\u2019t had a motorbike in front,\u201d Fuglsang said. \u201cIt was one rider against four [and he still won].\u201d<\/p>\n

Classics veteran Oliver Naesen gave his account of cycling\u2019s modern moto madness in a recent appearance on the Het Laatste Nieuws<\/em> podcast.<\/p>\n

Naesen recounted his wild motorpaced ride ride in a group with Poga\u010dar after the Slovenian\u2019s bike change meltdown at Paris-Roubaix.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe motorbikes formed a wall in front of our group,\u201d Naesen said. \u201cBecause of that, we were riding 15 kilometers per hour faster, together with Poga\u010dar and his teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n

The convoy is having an influence, from the lead attacks to the mid-pack.<\/p>\n

In search of the money-shot<\/h2>\n
\"French
Photo and TV cameras were sure not to miss Poga\u010dar and Seixas slugging it out at Li\u00e8ge.<\/span> (Photo: ELIAS ROM \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The UCI imposes limits on the number of team vehicles in a race convoy.<\/p>\n

But it seems that the swarm of media and neutral-service motos grows as fast as Poga\u010dar\u2019s palmar\u00e8s.<\/p>\n

This necessary evil won\u2019t likely diminish in an era when teams, sponsors, and journos demand all the content<\/em> possible.<\/p>\n

This year, the world\u2019s biggest classics looked like derny races as TV and press cameras swarmed superstar riders, waiting for their money shot.<\/p>\n

The crash, the attack, the mid-race tantrum.<\/p>\n

Naesen saw the impact first-hand when Poga\u010dar\u2019s chance at cracking the San Remo code seemed in peril after his uncharacteristic crash on the Italian Riviera.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPoga\u010dar and his group arrived at the foot of the Poggio with just five or six seconds. I remember seeing 10 motorbikes riding 20 meters in front of him,\u201d Naesen said on the HLN<\/em> podcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the difference between winning and losing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vehicles are having more impact on racing with every season, and anecdotally at least, they definitely did this spring.<\/p>\n

Only tighter UCI regulation or a mass rethink of how cycling is filmed and photographed will solve it.<\/p>\n

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Three key factors in the high-speed evolution of pro cycling<\/h2>\n
Super-talents, super-fueling, and lightning-fast bikes are making racing faster.<\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But to pin racing speeds on the impact of motos does a disservice to the peloton and the bubble of scientists, engineers, and physiologists that surrounds it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMotopacing\u201d is just the cherry on top of a continual evolution of training, tech, and nutrition that\u2019s blown up every niche of endurance sport.<\/p>\n

Fueling<\/h3>\n

Fueling is one of the most widely discussed contributors to cycling\u2019s high-speed evolution. We\u2019ve cataloged our in-depth coverage of the \u201ccarbohydrate revolution\u201d in one handy place, here.<\/p>\n

Eye-catching social media posts from team sponsors revealed Van Aert and Poga\u010dar fueled at 120g and 130g carbohydrate per hour in their titan showdown at Paris-Roubaix earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Across the athletic divide, Sabastian Sawe broke the mythical 2-hour mark at the London Marathon this weekend while he guzzled a total of 230 grams of carbs.<\/p>\n

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Those fueling numbers are some 50 percent higher than as little as five years ago.<\/p>\n

Athletes who are gorged with glucose (and fructose) can race harder, for longer, and are liberated to attack almost whenever they want. The bonk is all-but gone.<\/p>\n

And they train like they race \u2013 on a pipeline of carbs.<\/p>\n

This opening of the fueling faucet has put training and recovery into an upward spiral of progress. It\u2019s pushing power numbers north every month, and made itself more than evident Sunday at La Doyenne.<\/p>\n

According to Domestique<\/em>, Poga\u010dar set a world best four-minute power of 8.7 w\/kg when he and Seixas shattered the climbing record on La Redoute.<\/p>\n

Try doing that for one minute, dare you.<\/p>\n

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Tech<\/h3>\n

If the convoy seems to expand as fast as Poga\u010dar\u2019s palmar\u00e8s, then bike tech is evolving as fast as the hype around Paul Seixas.<\/p>\n

Tire technology has been re-thought to drive a trend toward wider and faster tires. 1x drivetrains and wide-spanning cassettes are now de rigeur\u00a0<\/em>for all but the steepest spring classics.<\/p>\n

Simultaneously, cobblestone bikes have gone extinct, and everything is integrated into bikes devoted to speed rather than comfort.<\/p>\n

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Of course, the UCI is all too aware of the impact of technology on racing speed and rider safety.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why it wants to limit gear ratios, has made wacky tire-measuring jigs, and is on a mission to make road bike handlebars as wide as the monsters found on downhill MTB.<\/p>\n

The Poga\u010dar-effect<\/h3>\n

But of course, \u201cit\u2019s not all about the bike,\u201d as a certain someone once said.<\/p>\n

Speeds are being accelerated by a peloton that\u2019s dense in superstar talent. In the classics, Poga\u010dar, Seixas, Van der Poel, Evenepoel, Van Aert, and their superteam henchmen drag races forward from the front.<\/p>\n

Super-durable monsters like Pog and MVDP demand a high pace from kilometer zero that shells the weak before they\u2019ve even had a chance to go pee.<\/p>\n

This rewriting of the tactical rulebook tips the scales to those who pedal as hard when they\u2019re fatigued as when they\u2019re fresh, and pushes overall paces higher.<\/p>\n

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The peloton averaged 54kph for the first hour of Paris-Roubaix earlier this month. On Sunday, the peloton cantered across more than 90km in the first two hours of Li\u00e8ge.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no time for gossip and sandwiches in a modern peloton that competes across every kilometer.<\/p>\n

The Giro d\u2019Italia and Tour de France are the next major dates on the pro cycling calendar.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t blink, or you\u2019ll miss them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jim Cotton<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Updated April 27, 2026 02:58PM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-training\/record-speed-classics-motos-carbs-pogacar\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-pogi-progress-2.jpg”] Jim Cotton Updated April 27, 2026 02:58PM Tadej Poga\u010dar just set the fastest ever average speed, broke the record time on La Redoute, and reportedly set a historic power PB at Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge. At 44.43 kph, La Doyenne on Sunday was more than 2kph faster than any other edition in history. Poga\u010dar\u2019s lightning-fast […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1907823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1907823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1907823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1907823\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1907823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1907823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1907823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}