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How long can Jamie (and his mum) ride at the same speed as Remco Evenepoel? Trying to keep pace with an Olympic and world champion cyclist
We recently reported that 6% of the UK population reckon they could qualify for the 2028 Olympic Road Race if they started training today. With that in mind, we set out to see just how long we could ride at the same speed as the pros in an attempt to put into perspective just how fast they really are!
The image above is Remco Evenepoel. Despite being just 24 years old, he is already one of the best cyclists in the world. He’s won the Vuelta Espana, he’s won the world championships, this year he finished third at the Tour de France, and then a few weeks ago he added two rather nice big shiny medals to his collection.
> Remco Evenepoel make history by winning Paris Olympics 2024 cycling road race
And this is me. The last medal I won was at a fun run, however, armed with a very tight skinsuit, I had just one aim: to attempt to ride as fast as Remco to prove that at least 6% of the UK population are completely and utterly deluded. Let me explain…
The '6% of Brits think they could be an Olympic cyclist' research: some background
> How much faster is an expensive road bike?
Pro cyclists are quick, right? They are genetic superhumans, with the best bikes and the best equipment, and they’ve trained for the majority of their lives to do just one thing: ride a bike as quickly as possible. Now, I didn’t really think that that was up for debate, and yet over the last few weeks, you might have seen this piece of research doing the rounds...
Here in the UK we love a bit of a poll, so luckily for us, YouGov published this gem shortly after the Olympics ended. Of the members of the general public it surveyed, 6% of Brits reckon that if they started now, they could qualify for the 2028 Olympic Games Road Race. To be honest, this had much of the road.cc office completely and utterly baffled (although some were no doubt thinking about training plans).
Take this year’s Olympic road race, for example. There were four Team GB riders selected, and when double Olympic mountain bike champion Tom Pidcock doesn’t even crack the top 10, you kind of know that it's not your average Sunday club run.
> How to conquer long bike rides without getting too tired
For starters, the route was a whopping 273km long. It's not like it was flat either, with 2,800m of elevation.
And yet after 235km, about the length of my longest ever bike ride, Remco decided that he fancied attacking, and proceeded to ride the remnants of the breakaway off his wheel before soloing to the finish.
So, how fast do pro cyclists ride then?
Thanks to his Strava data, we can actually see how fast Remco was riding for this portion of the race.
The Belgian attacked about 39km from the finish, and then without the help of a peloton, he averaged 47.7kph (for anyone who prefer miles per hour, that works out at just a smidgen under 30). He maxxed out on the downhills at 96.8 kph (60.1mph) easing back to a leisurely 86.1 kph (53.5mph) on the descents after he'd destroyed the field with his attack.
The test
That got us thinking... just how long could we cycle at these crazy speeds?
The test was simple. I'd roll down a hill to help me get up to the magic speed, and then once at the bottom, I'd use the flat, pretty straight road of my local TT route to see how long I could hold it for.
> Here's why I won't be upgrading to the Specialized Tarmac SL8
If I didn’t make it very far, then I had lined up a few excuses. For example, I'd be using my Tarmac SL7 rather than the latest Tarmac SL8 that Evenepoel used (shown above). That, according to Specialized, is a MASSIVE disadvantage to the tune of about seven watts. It’s obviously not that Evenepoel is better on a bike, I kept telling myself!
The results
Despite going very deep and tasting my own lungs for the next half an hour, I managed to hold Evenepoel’s Olympic speed for just under 5 minutes... so it's pretty clear then that I’ve got some work to do if I want to be selected for the road race in four years' time. Hopefully this puts into some sort of perspective just how fast the pros are.
> How to get the most from your limited training time
I am a pretty keen cyclist, riding for about 12 hours a week. I race criteriums and road races, and yet despite having no corners to contend with, none of the Parisian kickers and none of the chasing attacks for 230 kilometres prior, I could only hold the same speed for less than an eighth of the time that the Olympic champion did.
Evenepoel held that 47.7kph for 46 minutes, while having time to swap bikes when he punctured and slowing down for a nice celebration over the finish line. Now, I know that even if I quit my job today and trained relentlessly for four years, I'm probably not getting anywhere near that Olympic call-up…
Part 2
...And that brings us to the second part of the test. Technically I have a bit of an unfair advantage over the majority of the UK population surveyed, because I already ride a bike competitively.
So, to really try to hammer home just how fast the pros are riding, and put into perspective how misguided the UK population appear to be about how fast they are riding, my mum kindly volunteered herself to give the same test a go.
> How to boost your cycling fitness when you’re aged over 50
The result? 18 seconds at 47.7kph. It's not as easy as it looks on the telly!
Why is it so hard to ride this fast?
According to my trusty bike calculator, on a flat, smooth road with no wind, it would require 65 watts to maintain a speed of 20kph. However, the watts required to maintain double the speed requires many more watts, not just double.
In fact, on the same road, with the same body position and same set-up, I'd require around 375 watts to ride at 40kph. That's nearly six times more than the requirement for the lower speed.
This is because the relationship between drag and speed is not linear, resulting in the need for a lot more power to go only a little bit faster when at high speeds. Evenepoel is so quick because he has mastered the art of being able to put out huge power numbers, while also maintaining a super aerodynamic position.
Could 6% of the population really do it?
> Are expensive carbon wheels worth it?
So, in conclusion, we found what most of us knew already: the pros are ridiculously, superhumanly, eye-wateringly fast.
Rather than let it depress us that very few of us will ever be that quick, let's instead just respect the road cyclists who do get to call themselves Olympians. Just getting to a race like the Olympics is a huge achievement and most of the riders there have spent their entire lives dedicated to training for that moment. That’s certainly not something that 6% of the population can fast track in the next four years...
Let us know how long you think you could ride as fast as Evenepoel in the comments section below.
Jamie has been riding bikes since a tender age but really caught the bug for racing and reviewing whilst studying towards a master's in Mechanical engineering at Swansea University. Having graduated, he decided he really quite liked working with bikes and is now a full-time addition to the road.cc team. When not writing about tech news or working on the Youtube channel, you can still find him racing local crits trying to cling on to his cat 2 licence...and missing every break going...
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35 comments
What I took away from this Jamie is that your mum is hot. 😍 (Don't tell your dad)
I imagine pretty much anyone trying to keep up with Evenepoel would work up a bit of a sweat.
If I applied for Australian citizenship I reckon I could qualify for their breakdancing team.
What do you mean, breakdancing isn't an option for 2028?
A long time ago when I was an apprentice at RAF Cosford. we had access to the indoor 220 yard track. I sprinted a lap in just less than 30 seconds and I was completely knackered. It brought it home to me how fast elite athletes are. A four minute miler runs that fast for eight laps. Some of them make it look easy.
All but a very small minority, and I mean a vanishingly small, minuscule minority, of those 6% are deluded.
It's interesting to note that this was not a survey of testosterone fuelled 19 year olds. All age groups were included and the results aggregated. Not wishing to be seen in any way ageist (though in my second half century why not?), in the over 65 year old age group, an astonishing 15% believe they could qualify for one of the events. 2% of the 595 respondents over 65 believe they could qualify for either of the cyling events, 2% for the gymnastics events, 2% for diving, and 2% for triathlon.
I once beat an Olympic Silver medal winning road cyclist on a hill climb. I should pehaps caveat that with the admission that i was a teenager, and he was an octengenarian, having won his medal in 1928, and that he easily kept up with me on the rest of the route.
I do want to point out a flaw in the article. The 6% of the population didn't claim that they could win the Gold medal winner in 2028, just that they could qaulify for teh race. Assuming that they meant qualifying to ride for Team GB, then the comparison should have been against the results of the slowest British rider on the day, not against Remco.
On top of that, quite a lot of people in the UK would qualify to ride for countries other than GBNI, where the bar for selection would be lower. So for the avoidance of any doubt, the comparison should be to the slowest rider in the race. That would arguably be being too generous, though, so you could arbitrarily pick, say, the 80th percentile.
Though any way you cut it, I suspect the outcome wouldn't be too much different.
How about the third-slowest rider in the Paris ITT, Giro & Tour stage winner Biniam Girmay, who covered the 32.4 km in 40:20 (average speed 48.1 km/h).
Or perhaps Taylor Knibb who, despite crashing 3 times on the soaking wet streets of Paris, still averaged over 45 km/h, with a time of 43:03.
John Archibald rode an event on our local lumpy/sporting 25-mile TT course in April, recording a time of 47:57 (31.2 mph). The fastest of the local amateur riders was 6 minutes slower than John, averaging 27.8 mph.
It would be interesting to see what we and others could do on some Strava segments ridden by the pro riders, such as Box Hill (2012 Olympic RR) or maybe the Great Orme climb [segment], a summit finish in the 2021 ToB at the end of a 210 km, 5-hour stage with 2,600m of climbing. Most people would be walking after 150 metres of the Orme climb segment, even without having ridden the preceding 208 km.
My only taste of pro-standard riding was in a guided group ride in Mallorca. The guide was a competing national track cyclist and then the guide's mate joined us; he was a continental level pro and he and the guide sat up front, chatting away while the rest of us nearly died trying to keep up, at what was just a cruise for them!
I know I've told this story before but what the hell, spinning up Box Hill on a Sunday a few years ago in what I thought was quite a competent fashion, not being passed by anyone and passing a few, halfway up I got passed by a couple in proper flash kit who not only went by as if I was standing still but also were chatting away, as out of breath as they would be if sitting on a park bench...got to the top and a guy who'd been ahead said "Did you see 'em? Laura Trott and Jason Kenny!" The gap between amateurs and pros is much, much bigger than many imagine.
It's also rather lovely that Laura Trott and Jason Kenny went on leisurely (for them) rides together... you'd imagine it would be the last thing they'd want to do!
Unlike some who cycle for a living ("petrolhead" Chris Hoy springs to mind) they genuinely embrace the cycling lifestyle, they frequently share pictures of themselves and their two kids out riding and Laura is apparently often to be seen out shopping on a sit up and beg with a basket!
I think the only experiences I've had of riding with Pros is Russ and Dean Downing.
Not long after I moved down here (circa 2012 or 13) Russ Downing joined our club run halfway on a ride and he looked most relaxed as he led it at speed until he pulled off and we were breathing out of our proverbial @sses.
Dean was more relaxed leading round a training group (at a reasonable speed but not excessive) until he ramped it up a couple of miles from town (at which point the group thinned). I knew the finish though, so sat on his wheel. Suddenly with a couple of 100 metres to go he ramped it up to a sprint. Lol, at which point he failed to notice me slingshot past him. After the finish he apologised to the group that his race instinct got the better of him. At which point folk pointed out that he hadn't actually won the sprint. I somehow doubt I could have outsprinted him if I'd done an ounce of work
I used to share a commute with John Archibald - Scottish TT champion, track IP world record holder. Have had him pass me once or twice, and tried to stay on his wheel as long as possible. Have managed maybe 30s, before dying completely.
Went home, opened Strava, to find he was doing Z2 and barely putting out any effort.
Almost as embarrassing as me sharing with a friend how a had chased down a time trial rider over a 3 mile maximum effort. Turned out from Strava she was doing her cool down!
"I am a pretty keen cyclist, I train for about 12 hours a week, I race criteriums and road races and yet despite having no corners to contend with, none of the Parisian kickers, none of the chasing attacks for 230 kilometres prior, I could only hold the same speed for less than an eighth of the time."
You're probably exhausted from writing long unbroken sentences like that. Put some full stops in and call it periodisation.
Not sure I could ride as fast as Jamie's mum... she looks speedy!
Wait - when did Remco Evenepoel become British?
🤔
Only 375 watts? Sure that wouldn't boil my kettle. LA here I come.
How can son many people be so deluded?
My guess is because road cycling is a fitness based sport, not a skill sport. People coming in from other sports and doing well; rowers, ski-jumpers, etc
You wouldn't see that happen in football, rugby, golf, etc You probably wouldn't see it in skill based cycling sports, Downhill/Enduro.....
Your post makes no sense. There are several skill based sports mentioned with higher percentages than road cycling, such as air rifle (15%), archery (13%), badminton (10%) and table tennis (9%).
Air rifle doesn't require fitness or skill. You just point the thing and shoot. Archery's the same. And badminton and ping pong are children's games. Anyone can play them.
My thoughts exactly. 100m sprint - everyone does it at school - and it's only 10 seconds of your time!
Trampoline? Just bouncing etc.
Ice skating - it's just like slipping on an icy path and who hasn't done that at some point?
Diving: is there anyone in the world who is not capable of falling off a board into a pool of water? Showjumping, just sit on a horse and let it do its thing. Worst of all, Olympic surfing, the wave is going to wash that board in to shore anyway, all you have to do is stand on top of it.
I once thought I might be good a surfing, though not to the point of qualification for any event. Turns out that after numerous lessons I wasn't even close to being able to stand up on the damn board. Next year , I think I will put in a couple of evenings down the gym and surely I will qualify for the weightlifting at LA28.
I only ever had one surfing lesson and it turned out I was a total natural, I was standing up perfectly balanced in the ideal position within a minute of the lesson starting and I could hold that position for as long as I wanted. Admittedly that was on the beach-based section of the lesson with the board sitting on flat sand, but I knocked that thing out of the park. It all went a bit downhill from there…
What skill does that childrens toy (as often quoted by motorists) a bicycle require - if it's a kids toy then any adult can become an olympic class cyclist.
Indeed, and I was referring to all the deluded people who think they could qualify in the various sports cited. I think they are people whose sporting activity is confined to pressing the remote control button for the TV.
The sports that seem to be the hardest to the lay person aren't just the skilled sports, they're the sports which are judged (except rugby sevens, which is an odd outlier). Archery and shooting are highly skilled, but they don't look all that hard from the outside. Sports which are subjectively judged like gymnastics and skateboarding inevitably look hard because that's the point!
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