As the professor himself modestly puts it, this is \u201cone of the many puzzle pieces of this team\u2019s success. The biggest piece, of course, is the riders themselves. When all of the puzzle pieces fall into place, it can lead to great results.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
First and second place on time trial<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/2gWtpsBprk0\n<\/div>See a video of the wind tunnel tests with Primoz Roglic\u2019s model<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAmong other things, Blocken<\/a> gave advice on the most aerodynamic position on the bike, not only with wind tunnel tests but also with extensive computer modeling of wind flow around riders. One example is the recommendation to raise the hands and forearms more on the time trial handlebars. Blocken: \u201cThis shields the face and is, therefore, better aerodynamically. You now see all of the good time trialists adopting that.\u201d The results of yesterday\u2019s Tour de France time trial are significant: Jumbo-Visma riders Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard finished first and second, respectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cWe also spent a lot of time researching the time trial suits together with manufacturer AGU, which is a partner of Jumbo-Visma,\u201d Blocken says. \u201cTogether, we\u2019ve been able to develop even a few percent faster suits than the previous suit.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Life-sized models<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A decisive step in this was Blocken\u2019s decision in 2018 to begin to systematically test on life-sized models of the Jumbo-Visma riders<\/a>. \u201cReal cyclists always sit slightly differently on the bike in comparative testing. For that reason, you don\u2019t know what causes the differences you measure. But a well-positioned dummy with laser alignment always sits exactly the same,\u201d says Blocken. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/assets.tue.nl\/fileadmin\/_processed_\/3\/7\/csm_WOUT%20VAN%20AERT-11134_23c7d3c3fb.jpg\")
Wout van Aert with his cyclist model at the TU\/e windtunnel. Photo \u00a9 Cor Vos Agency<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWind tunnel features<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Another unique feature in the wind tunnel is the balance set-up in which the riders are placed, which was developed by the Equipment & Prototype Center at TU\/e. Blocken: \u201cThis is globally unique in terms of flexibility and accuracy. It allows us to have a rider pedaling in any possible position, with any possible power, and to test in all possible wind angles quickly.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another special aspect is that the wind tunnel can accommodate a full cycling team. Blocken and Jumbo-Visma\u2019s Head of Performance Mathieu Heijboer used this and computer simulations to determine the ideal order for the Jumbo-Visma team for a time trial beforehand, which resulted in a great time-saving. This contributed to the team winning the team time trial in the Tour by a large margin in 2019. \u201cUnfortunately, this was not part of the schedule this year, otherwise, they would have certainly had a high profile there,\u201d thinks the professor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unsafe<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Blocken also saw developments in the Tour in another aspect that he studied. In 2015, Blocken demonstrated that a support car driving closely behind a rider saves many seconds of time because the car pushes the air forward and thus the rider as well. This is not only unfair but also unsafe due to the short distance between car and rider. \u201cYou now see some teams using a van as a support car because they have a greater effect than a smaller passenger car. This comes directly from our research.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As far as the Flemish professor is concerned, this is an undesirable development: \u201cReally, the UCI ought to do two things. Firstly, increase the distance of support cars from 10 to 30 meters, at which point the aerodynamic effect is much smaller and safer for the riders. Second, enforce that distance. This doesn\u2019t happen now even with the 10-meter rule.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The end is not in sight<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Blocken and his research partners have already achieved the necessary time savings, but the end is not yet in sight, as the professor expects. \u201cThis is certainly not the end of aerodynamic innovations in cycling. The complexity of aerodynamics, combined with the many variables in cycling, will still produce decades of scientific innovation and significant seconds in time savings.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
More information about the TU\/e wind tunnel can be found here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<\/a>![](\"https:\/\/media.innovationorigins.com\/2016\/06\/IMG_1598-678x452.jpg\")
<\/div><\/div>More on Bert Blocken’s work can be found here<\/div>Your Sneak Preview of the Future<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/archive.ioplus.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/bert-blocken-windtunnel-TU-eindhoven-1004x669.jpeg\")
Wielerploeg Lotto-Jumbo in Windtunnel TU Eindhoven <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"author":1568,"featured_media":500140,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":""},"categories":[34665],"tags":[3557,128213,36832,36850,21785,128216],"location":[6763],"internal_archives":[],"class_list":["post-388628","selected","type-selected","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-bert-blocken","tag-jonas-vingegaard","tag-jumbo-visma","tag-jumbo-visma-en","tag-tu-eindhoven","tag-wind-tunnel-3","location-netherlands"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/IMG_1598.jpg","coauthors":[],"author_meta":{"author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/brewbart\/","display_name":"Bart Brouwers"},"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 4 years ago","modified":"Updated 4 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on July 25, 2022","modified":"Updated on July 25, 2022"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on July 25, 2022 1:13 pm","modified":"Updated on July 25, 2022 1:13 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","tax_additional":{"category":{"linked":["Health<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Health<\/span>"],"slug":"category","name":"Categories"},"post_tag":{"linked":["Bert Blocken<\/a>","Jonas Vingegaard<\/a>","Jumbo-Visma<\/a>","Jumbo-Visma<\/a>","TU Eindhoven<\/a>","wind tunnel<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Bert Blocken<\/span>","Jonas Vingegaard<\/span>","Jumbo-Visma<\/span>","Jumbo-Visma<\/span>","TU Eindhoven<\/span>","wind tunnel<\/span>"],"slug":"post_tag","name":"Tags"},"language":{"linked":["EN<\/a>"],"unlinked":["EN<\/span>"],"slug":"language","name":"Tags"},"post_translations":{"linked":["pll_62de7ce7bbf1b<\/a>"],"unlinked":["pll_62de7ce7bbf1b<\/span>"],"slug":"post_translations","name":""},"location":{"linked":["Netherlands<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Netherlands<\/span>"],"slug":"location","name":"Locations"},"internal_archives":{"linked":[],"unlinked":[],"slug":"internal_archives","name":"Internal Archives"}},"series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/selected\/388628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/selected"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/selected"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388628"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=388628"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=388628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Among other things, Blocken<\/a> gave advice on the most aerodynamic position on the bike, not only with wind tunnel tests but also with extensive computer modeling of wind flow around riders. One example is the recommendation to raise the hands and forearms more on the time trial handlebars. Blocken: \u201cThis shields the face and is, therefore, better aerodynamically. You now see all of the good time trialists adopting that.\u201d The results of yesterday\u2019s Tour de France time trial are significant: Jumbo-Visma riders Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard finished first and second, respectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe also spent a lot of time researching the time trial suits together with manufacturer AGU, which is a partner of Jumbo-Visma,\u201d Blocken says. \u201cTogether, we\u2019ve been able to develop even a few percent faster suits than the previous suit.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n A decisive step in this was Blocken\u2019s decision in 2018 to begin to systematically test on life-sized models of the Jumbo-Visma riders<\/a>. \u201cReal cyclists always sit slightly differently on the bike in comparative testing. For that reason, you don\u2019t know what causes the differences you measure. But a well-positioned dummy with laser alignment always sits exactly the same,\u201d says Blocken. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another unique feature in the wind tunnel is the balance set-up in which the riders are placed, which was developed by the Equipment & Prototype Center at TU\/e. Blocken: \u201cThis is globally unique in terms of flexibility and accuracy. It allows us to have a rider pedaling in any possible position, with any possible power, and to test in all possible wind angles quickly.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another special aspect is that the wind tunnel can accommodate a full cycling team. Blocken and Jumbo-Visma\u2019s Head of Performance Mathieu Heijboer used this and computer simulations to determine the ideal order for the Jumbo-Visma team for a time trial beforehand, which resulted in a great time-saving. This contributed to the team winning the team time trial in the Tour by a large margin in 2019. \u201cUnfortunately, this was not part of the schedule this year, otherwise, they would have certainly had a high profile there,\u201d thinks the professor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Blocken also saw developments in the Tour in another aspect that he studied. In 2015, Blocken demonstrated that a support car driving closely behind a rider saves many seconds of time because the car pushes the air forward and thus the rider as well. This is not only unfair but also unsafe due to the short distance between car and rider. \u201cYou now see some teams using a van as a support car because they have a greater effect than a smaller passenger car. This comes directly from our research.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n As far as the Flemish professor is concerned, this is an undesirable development: \u201cReally, the UCI ought to do two things. Firstly, increase the distance of support cars from 10 to 30 meters, at which point the aerodynamic effect is much smaller and safer for the riders. Second, enforce that distance. This doesn\u2019t happen now even with the 10-meter rule.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Blocken and his research partners have already achieved the necessary time savings, but the end is not yet in sight, as the professor expects. \u201cThis is certainly not the end of aerodynamic innovations in cycling. The complexity of aerodynamics, combined with the many variables in cycling, will still produce decades of scientific innovation and significant seconds in time savings.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n More information about the TU\/e wind tunnel can be found here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\nLife-sized models<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Wind tunnel features<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Unsafe<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The end is not in sight<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div><\/div>