Cycling speeds are truly becoming unbelievably fast.
Peter Sagan's average speed of 43.55 km/h in 2018 and Philipe Gilbert's 43.07 km/h in 2019 seemed incredibly fast, but last Sunday Wout van Aert achieved the fastest Paris-Roubaix victory ever with an amazing average speed of 48.91 km/h.
This can't be just because of a tailwind, so what's the secret?
Better bikes? More aerodynamic clothing? Or is it because of the relentless race intensity from start to finish, where there wasn't even a proper breakaway this year? Or is it the result of all these factors combined?
Athlete standards continue to improve, and records that were once 'special' in the past are quickly becoming 'normal'. Interestingly, to finish within this year's time limit (cutoff), one had to maintain an average speed of 45.3 km/h, meaning Peter Sagan's winning speed at the time wouldn't have even met this year's finishing standard.
