Stage 13 looms large, for Kloden and Team Mobile in particular.
The peleton's average speed was about 24 mph (37.5 km) if I did my
math right. 142 miles
(230 km) in about 5.9 hours. The end was about 6 meters below the
start but it did have some hills, one cat 4.
I routinely do 24 mph that at some point in my daily commute, if my
estimates are correct. I ride an old 10 speed "racing bike"
retrofitted to my commuting needs. 24 mph is about 80 rpm cadence in
my high gear. I but I do it downhill, I don't know about flat in a
peleton.
Anyway, I wonder how many cyclist could have stayed with that peleton?
(Not me, of course).
Looks like everyone (all 160) kept up with the peleton that day, except
for a couple of guys who where 1 minute off the pace. I read somewhere
that they had to use a special rule to avoid eliminating the whole
peleton for being so far behind the winner that day.
The need to start awarding a pink jersey for the opposite of
combativity.