Supervisor: Martin Aagaard & Steen Brøndsted Nielsen

Many people may only know the Tour de France, as the background noise to a nap in the summertime. However, during the past couple of years, the bike race has seen a renewed interest in Denmark owing to the current generation of fantastic riders. So, if you want to join in on the conversation in the break room, this colloquium is for you.  
This student colloquium will explore the basic physics underpinning the dynamics of bike racing and how this pertains to winning a race. We will get to know which forces act on a cyclist and how they depend on the terrain and design of a stage. Specific examples of how a race is won will then be explained and we will get to know the answers to questions such as: How do they ride 200 km at 50 km/h? Why are flat stages so boring? And how does Jonas Vingegaard ride up mountains so fast?