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UCI to ban supertuck descending starting April 1st.

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Vélonews just resurfaced an article from 2018 that tested the aero benefits of various riders descending styles. Pantani was the least aero because his body trapped too much air. The winners were variants on the supertuck as performed by Sagan and Phinney. So there does seem to be a real benefit.
A Belgian professor/researcher working for Dutch and Belgian universities has done a lot of research in wind tunnels etc, and came to the same conclusion. He talked about it in 2019 on Dutch TV:
 
It's a pos decision again. I somehow understand banning it from juniors and cadets, maybe even uci junior calendar races..but when you are conti proconti wt, dn1-dn3 aso. u23 and older, you're so experienced and also invested so much to your own performance, you just don't *** with these things, well reckless behaviour is always case of its own.

They are professionals. Professionalism is not just a pro deal or agreement. It's a mental attitude. And in every sport we glorify just a bit of that risky move, that gutsy skilful move. Evolution. Standards of Excellence.
 
Well, if they go with this safety measures I'm starting to pray for a 30ºC bone dry day in Roubaix on the next April 11th.

And if I tomorrow I wake up billionaire I'm going to buy majority stake in all road surface companies in and around Hauts-de-France to put them out of business.
 
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I know, but allegedly while riding in that position (and not being reactive enough to avoid it).

That problem with that conclusion is it assumes he saw the pothole. If I remember a few other riders who were at the front of the field they said they never saw the pothole until after they were all getting up from the crash. The problem knowing for sure is that Molari doesn't remember the crash.
 
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I know, but allegedly while riding in that position (and not being reactive enough to avoid it).
You hit the right hole it may not matter where your hands or a*s is on the bike. This is where the immense resources of the team management should provide them with some guidance. They've got motos in front of them and an earphone telling them what's coming. I'd hate to ride in that world where the pressure it to go all out but the response to road obstacles is: "oh....yeah, there's a median in the middle of the 90 degree bend....500 meters from the finish. Sooooory."
 
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I genuinely don't know why everybody is getting so worked up about this. It's so inconsequential.
My biggest problem with it is it feels like victim blaming. Far too many crashes happen because of motorbikes, but the UCI does nothing. Someone nearly dies because a reckless move forces him into barriers that never should have been used in the first place, and the UCI decides to have a "consultation" about this and only bring in rules next year.

I'm not really that bothered about how it'll affect races, the most exciting races on the calendar are really "super tuck applicable". I do think it's unfair to remove an advantage from some riders with no real evidence it's dangerous, I have a similar opinion on bike weights though.
 
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I genuinely don't know why everybody is getting so worked up about this. It's so inconsequential.
If everyone adheres to the rules (supertuck and resting forearms) and no one (winning a race, or contending it) gets DQed for violating it, it's possibly pretty inconsequential, yeah. It will disfavour attackers, but it's not easy to say how much.

But what good does it do?

And is it the role of the UCI to regulate that, in the cases were it doesn't harm or endanger others than the rider using it (and does it even endanger said rider)? I find it perfectly understandable that some are against the oldschool wild west attitude of having the peloton regulating itself, and it's clear that the sport is unnecessarily dangerous to a degree that calls for intervention -- but that isn't a free-for-all for all regulations, nor does it absolve the sins of micromanagement.
 
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A Belgian professor/researcher working for Dutch and Belgian universities has done a lot of research in wind tunnels etc, and came to the same conclusion. He talked about it in 2019 on Dutch TV:
And per Bolder's reference there may be a benefit to the tall and bulkier riders. I've tried the St and the standard tuck on the same stretch of smooth downhill and hit and hit 70km + each time. The difference was I could respond to the driver merging on to the road in the seated tuck but I'm 5'8" and 140lbs-. Bigger guys could probably gap me in both postures. Sagan has the mass...
 
I genuinely don't know why everybody is getting so worked up about this. It's so inconsequential.
If you believe the wattage figures in several articles on Velonews, it’s actually not. Riding in a super tuck on a long descent or in a truly aero forearms position could mean the difference between a successful attack or an unsuccessful one for a rider willing to take a little bite of risk.

think about a rider attacking just before the crest of a col. He immediately goes into tuck and gains, say, 300 meters in a few kms. Without the tuck he might get only 250 meters.

anyway it’s done, and I’m sure riders will figure out other interesting techniques.
 
Also, what would it have changed if more people had read the mail? Then the outcry would just have happened earlier.
And at that point they were still potential changes, which is the point Trentin is making. The information was sent out a while back, nobody read/responded when it was the time to, and so it was codified and announced. Now it has been packaged in a more accessible way, riders are realising an complaining. if the outcry had happened earlier, then the changes might have just been scrapped via whatever internal mechanisms they might have.
 

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