The Fastest Grand Tours Time Trial in History
After Chris Boardman broke the hour record for the first time, Luc Leblanc remarked that if Boardman could break it, half of the pro peloton could. In his first TdF, Boardman caught his minute-man, Leblanc, over a 7.1 km course and set the fastest ever Tour stage in the process.
Rik Verbrugghe holds the record for the fasest ever stage in a grand tour. 58.874 km/h over the 7.6 km prologue course from the 2001 Giro d'Italia. Mario Cipollini holds the fastest road stage (48.521 km/h) from the 1997 edition and Alex Zülle holds the fastest time trial stage (53.771 km/h stage 15) from the 1998 edition.
The fastest ever Vuelta a España stage is held by Rubén Plaza. Plaza won the 39 km stage 20 time trial in 2005 at a speed of 56.22 km/h. This makes it the fastest ever non-prologue stage of a Grand Tour. Igor González de Galdeano holds the record for the fastest road stage. 2001 Vuelta stage 9, 179 km @ 55.176 km/h.
- Fastest Stage
Mario Cipollini 50,355 km/h Laval - Blois (194,5 km) 1999
Pablo Lastras 49,938 km/h Bordeaux - Saint-Maixent l’Ecole (203,5 km) 2003
Johan Bruyneel 49,417 km/h Evreux - Amiens (158 km) 1993
- Fastest Time Trial longer than 20 km
Greg LeMond 54,545 km/h Versailles - Paris (24,5 km) 1989
David Millar 54,361 km/h Pornic - Nantes (49 km) 2003
- Fastest Prologue
Chris Boardman 55,152 km/h Lille - Euralille (7,2 km) 1994
Chris Boardman 54,193 km/h Dublin (5,6 km) 1998
Fabian Cancellara 53,660 km/h Londres (7,9 km) 2007
- Fastest Team Time Trial
Discovery Channel Team 57,320 km/h Tours - Blois (67,5 km) 2005
Gewiss - Ballan 54,930 km/h Mayenne - Alençon (67 km) 1995
Carrera 54,610 km/h Berlin (40,5 km) 1987
Read more about this topic: Individual Time Trial
Famous quotes containing the words fastest, grand, time, trial and/or history:
“Government by average opinion is merely a circuitous method of going to the devil; those who profess to lead but in fact slavishly follow this average opinion are simply the fastest runners and the loudest squeakers of the herd which is rushing blindly down to its destruction.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (182595)
“The great challenge which faces us is to assure that, in our society of big-ness, we do not strangle the voice of creativity, that the rules of the game do not come to overshadow its purpose, that the grand orchestration of society leaves ample room for the man who marches to the music of another drummer.”
—Hubert H. Humphrey (19111978)
“There are moments of existence when time and space are more profound, and the awareness of existence is immensely heightened.”
—Charles Baudelaire (18211867)
“Between us two its not a star at all.
Its a new patented electric light,
Put up on trial by that Jerseyite
So much is being now expected of....”
—Robert Frost (18741963)
“I assure you that in our next class we will concern ourselves solely with the history of Egypt, and not with the more lurid and non-curricular subject of living mummies.”
—Griffin Jay, and Reginald LeBorg. Prof. Norman (Frank Reicher)