Solo winner of the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday April 16, Tadej Pogacar may have benefited from a boost from race management.
We’re not going to lie to each other, Tadej Pogacar has crushed everything since the start of the season and his new victory on Sunday April 16 in the Amstel Gold Race proved it again. However, the double winner of the Tour de France is at the heart of a controversy. On the live images we can see the UAE Emirates rider very close to the car of the Amstel race director, probably taking advantage of an aspiration. If he probably did not need this to win, the time saved would be significant according to Bert Blocken, professor of physics and specialist in aerodynamics, interviewed by the Belgian media knack.be.
“Riding in the vacuum 2 meters behind a car reduces air resistance by 65% ??and can save 36 seconds per kilometer. […] Pogi didn’t stay so close to the car for so long. However … It had a big impact. In the final, he was able to ride very close behind the race director’s car and a motorbike (from a press photographer, editor’s note) for at least two minutes, with a varying distance between ten and forty yards. I estimate the total time saved between ten and twenty seconds.”
As L’Equipe analyzes, if we look at the live images and the various gaps displayed, we see a gap of 23 seconds 9.7 km from the line and 31 seconds, at the foot of the last bump, the Bemeleberg, 7.2 km from the finish, just after the car episode when Healy seemed to be faster according to Stavia data.
“I’ve heard the critics,” explained Leo van Vliet Sunday night on the In Hel Wiel podcast. We were driving behind Pogacar and at one point Healy got closer, so we had to pass. I know the route, it’s getting narrower and narrower. When we overtook [Pogacar], we had to be careful because the road was not very wide. If someone takes a photo and a car runs over them… what am I supposed to do?
