I've been watching the Tour De France every day on Versus as have many of my current and ex-teammates. The Tour has been an interest of mine for a few years now, ever since Miguel Indurain impressed me with his ability to push a 60 tooth chainring when most guys were using 52-56 teeth on the front. Although they're both long distance races, riding the Tour, and running a marathon are quite different. The adavantages from drafting in bicycling are amazing. Bob Roll said the other night that a drafting cyclist gains about a 30% advantage over the guy he is drafting off of. It got me thinking how great it would be if running were the same. We could all draft our way to a three minute 10k PR, or a 10-15 minute PR in the marathon. It always amazes me how the peloton can be 5 minutes down 3/4 of the way through a stage and catch the breakaway most of the time by the finish. Usually if you spot someone even 10 seconds in a 10k, you're toast(as I learned at Peachtree two weeks ago). I suppose if we were able to run 25-30 mph, the effects of drafting would be more pronounced. It makes me wonder what Usain Bolt or Tyson Gay could run if they had a windbreak.THX to Brian and a huge BIG UP to fellow german Heinrich Haussler for todays win at Colmar!
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