Belgian riders visit Mercedes facility in England, as used by McLaren Formula 1 team
Three riders from the OmegaPharma-Lotto have visited the Drag2Zero facility at the Mercedes Benz Formula One wind tunnel, as used by the McLaren Formula 1 motor racing team in Brackley, Northamptonshire in England. Philippe Gilbert, Jürgen Roelandts and Jurgen Van Den Broeck were accompanied by sports manager Marc Sergeant to the wind tunnel facility, which specialises in time trial positioning.
Each rider spent an hour in the wind tunnel, performing several tests.
“Besides the equipment, much attention was given to the position on the bike, stem, seat post and crank being constantly modified,” said a statement from the team. “Our riders have profited from the know-how of the F1 racing stable to find the best aerodynamic position.
“This optimal position on the bike helps in optimizing oxygen intake, and thus the maximal power and movement, bringing hopefully some percent toward a win.”
Jurgen Van Den Broeck in particular should find an improvement in his time trial position helps with results this season. The 27-year-old finished fifth in last year’s Tour de France, the first Belgian to finish in the top-five since Claude Criquielion in 1986; he was climbing alongside the best climbers in the race, but missed out on the chance to go for the podium because of his inferiority against to watch.
Van Den Broeck might have challenged Samuel Sanchez for fourth place overall in the stage 19 time trial between Bordeaux and Pauillac; instead Sanchez actually increased his lead over the Belgian as he was caught by Denis Menchov, who’d started 3 minutes behind him. Van Den Broeck’s fifth place was only protected by sixth-placed Robert Gesink having an even worse day.
Although there are just 43km of individual time trialling, as well as a 23km team time trial, in this year’s Tour, if he hopes to become the first Belgian on the Tour podium since Lucien Van Impe in 1981 Van Den Broeck needs to improve against the clock.