Tour de France 2024 - Stage 11: Evaux-les-Bains - Le Lioran | 211 kilometres
The 11th stage of the Tour de France 2024 has 4350 metres of climbing in store for the riders in the Massif Central. The route is nervous over small roads and the difficulty increases towards the end. On paper, this is a stage for breakaway riders who do well over short, steep mountains. But movement is also conceivable in the overall classification. The first of four mountains in the finale, the Col de Neronne, has an average gradient of 9.1 per cent over 3.8 kilometres. That's enough to break up the field and put the favourites under pressure. Especially as a strong team can do some damage on the approach to this climb, just like on the Galibier stage. The Puy Mary Pas de Peyrol gets really nasty towards the back, with gradients of up to 14 per cent.
In our simulation, we are interested in the question of what difference the material makes over the last 46 kilometres. We assume that the final will be ridden in full over this distance.
Number of the day: 1:09 minutes
Under these conditions, the fastest bike takes 1:09 minutes off the slowest. At the very back is another light bike with poor aerodynamics, the Cervelo R5.
Bikes with a good compromise between aerodynamics and weight ride in front in our simulation. We calculate the fastest overall riding time for the Canyon Aeroad - however, because it exceeds the minimum weight of 6.8 kg, it falls behind by 1-2 seconds per kilometre in the very steep sections over 9 percent. If you want to go on an ultimate attack here, you should be as light as possible.
Which bike is better therefore also depends on the expected course. A soloist who can ride evenly is well advised to use our ranking. A classification rider who wants to keep the rear wheel when attacking, i.e. is set up defensively, should be as light as possible and could therefore be motivated to reach for a light bike. A classification rider who attacks, on the other hand, also benefits from aerodynamics on the climbs and flatter sections.
It will therefore be interesting to see whether Jonas Vingegaard favours the fast S5 as he has done in the past or whether he goes for the lighter R5. If he chooses the latter, he must not lose his slipstream on the flat and downhill if he wants to stay on the bike. On the steepest section of the Peyrol, Vingegaard loses two seconds per kilometre with the S5 compared to the R5 (if the weight really is 7.6 kg, as in our list; it may be lighter).
Once again, Tadej Pogacar doesn't have to worry. He only has one wheel to choose from. At most, he could adjust the wheel height. But we don't think the steep sections on the 11th stage of the Tour de France 2024 are long enough for that. Our guess is that he will ride Enve 4.5 wheels as standard.
Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel don't have to think too hard either, both are riding the Specialized Tarmac SL8, a bike that meets the minimum weight requirements and is also one of the faster bikes on the descents.
The (almost) entire field at a glance*
*) The calculations are based on the bikes tested by TOUR in the laboratory and wind tunnel. The bikes at the Tour de France may differ in some details. Of course, we have not yet been able to analyse last-minute prototypes. Background to the simulation.
Table: In the finale of the mountain stage, the bikes that offer a good compromise between aerodynamics and weight come out on top.
Our expert
Robert Kühnen studied mechanical engineering, writes about technical and training topics for TOUR and develops test methods. Robert has been refining the simulation calculations for years and they are also used by professional teams.
