Winner's avg. speed trends in the TdF

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Taxus4a said:
The trend shoul be to increase very slowly year by year if the parcours are similar, becouse tecnology and preparation improve always

Ugh. Please abandon this opinion.

Did athletics records fall ANNUALLY through about the 1980's? No. The same is true for cycling. The trend is, roughly, if a new, more effective training method is found, then many records fall. Then things grind along until the next innovation.

Please don't apply this concept to modern athletics.
 
Actually, teams like HTC does not dictate the pace on the flat stages, peloton simply arranges themselves to catch the breakaway inside final 10km, so the speed of the breakaways contribute to the average speed most of the time.

Result: Breakaway riders are finding new methods to dope themselves better each year :eek: