Quote Originally Posted by Lenusik
I hope that Tour de France cyclist do not put anybody down by having an average speed of 35 mph after a 100 mile ride.
You seem to be pulling these numbers out of thin air. Just out of curiosity, I checked the Tour de France web site to look at the average speed of the winner on each of the stages so far this year.

The prologue was the fastest stage (from a speed kph/mph standpoint), but it was also very short at 7.1 km (4.6 miles). The speed? 51.4 kph or 31.9 mph.

Of the other stages completed so far, stage 2 was the slowest with a speed of 40.775 kph / 25.33 mph over 228.5 km / 142 miles, and stage 6 was the fastest at 45.308 kph / 28.153 mph over 225 km / 139.8 miles. Let's see, fast professional racers riding in a pack and drafting off each other. Yes, they are moving very fast - and while there are some hills, these are the sprint stages, no mountains here. Most of us couldn't come close to their speed given the same conditions.

Your statement that the TDF riders are averaging 35 mph makes me really question your numbers - especially given that they didn't come close to this speed even during the short prologue.

--- Denise