Describing how fast professional cyclists are is challenging. As with so many topics, the only completely accurate answer is: “It depends.” On the distance, on the route’s steepness, on the length of the route.
For example, Victor Campanaerts currently holds the cycling hour record, having covered a hair over 55 kilometers (34.17 miles) in an hour. He wouldn’t be able to do that for two hours. And challenges to the hour record are always performed on an absolutely flat indoor track, in perfect conditions.
Stage 17 of the Vuelta de Espana, on 11 September 2019, was 219.6 kilometers (136.4 miles) long. It was won by Philippe Gilbert, out of a breakaway, at an average speed of 50.63 kph (31.46 mph). That remains the current record speed for a one-day cycling race longer than 200 km.
A typical stage or one-day professional cycling race is about 150–200 kilometers (93–125 miles) long. It will be ridden in 4–5 hours, at an average speed of 40–45 kph (25–28 mph).
That being said, it’s time to dive into details!
How Fast Are Pro Cyclists? – Overview
The average speed over the entire pro cyclist race is around 40 kph. When the riders are all together in the peloton (the big group), and nothing exciting is happening, they’ll be riding around this speed.
Sometimes they’ll go slower if it’s a long, hard stage, sometimes faster if there’s a tailwind, or they want to ensure that breakaways don’t get too far ahead.
The top climbers ride up the mountains (depending on severity) at around 20 kph, the best ones a couple of kph faster.
Marco Pantani holds the Tour de France record for climbing Alpe d’Huez – 13.8km long at an average gradient of 8.1%!- at just over 23 kph.
The sprinters and other poor climbers will be several kph slower: they calculate just how slowly they can climb to avoid being thrown out for arriving after the maximum time limit for the day (a percentage of the stage winner’s time: riders taking too long will be disqualified).
However, climbers are often poor descenders, and heavier riders tend to go downhill faster.
Marcus Burghardt recorded a top speed of 130 kph on a descent last year. This is very fast, but over 100 kph on a long descent isn’t unusual on straight sections.
Time trialists are often regarded as the purest form of a rider as they are alone on the road, unprotected by teammates. Man and machine.
They will ride on a flat time trial, usually for about an hour, at around 50 kph, the Tour record being 55.44 kph for a short time trial, stage 1 of the 2015 Tour.
Most amateurs can’t even sprint this fast, let alone sustain this speed for up to an hour.
These guys are genetic freaks (in the best sense of the word) who were born being able to train their bodies to do things that we mortals can only dream of.
*All speeds are quoted in kph, not mph because that’s how it’s done in cycling. 40 kph is about 25mph: divide kph by 8 and multiply by 5 to calculate mph, or use an online calculator.
Sprint speed
If you’ve ever watched a professional road cycling event live or on TV, you know that pro cyclists can ride for days, if not weeks.
However, during the Santos Tour Down Under, the Tour de France, and some recent World Championships, more than half of the stages were won in a head-to-head, small group, or mass sprint finish.
During professional road cycling sprints, the average speed is 63.9kph (53.7-69.1kph) for men and 53.8kph (41.6-64kph) for women for 10-30 seconds.
Men produce peak power outputs of 13.9 to 20.0 Watts per kilogram (989-1,443 Watts) during the sprint, while women produce 10.8-16.2 Watts per kilogram (716-1,088 Watts).
While sprinters struggle to go uphill, they shine at the end of flat stages.
Until the last few seconds before the finish line, a sprinter is shielded from the wind by his teammates. When they finally break free from their teammates’ slipstream for the final sprint, they can reach incredible speeds.
How Fast Are Pro Cyclists Downhill?
What’s the best part of cycling? Going downhill! Obviously. We’re not saying that the odd-ascent can’t be enjoyable, but the views at the top and the promise of the slope swapping around often give you the will to push on up.
How fast professional cyclists ride downhill depends on the descent, of course.
Long, steep, relatively straight roads in good condition will allow riders to descend faster and more safely. On some of them, it would not be impossible for a talented (and courageous) descender to hit 90-plus kilometers per hour.
A mistake or mechanical problem at those speeds can prove fatal.
One of the most memorable descents occurred on Stage 13 of the 2011 Tour de France. Thor Hushovd, a sprinter, got into a breakaway on a mountain stage. At the top of the final climb of the day (the Col d’Aubisque), he was more than a minute and a half behind the leader, Jeremy Roy.
Hushovd caught Roy on the long descent into Lourdes and went on to win the stage. He reached a top speed of more than 69 MPH (111 KPH).
The caveat is the combination of terrain/roads that will produce those speeds. Most steep descents have hairpins that force a speed reduction.
And riders willing to take that risk are pretty unusual, so you will rarely see speeds that high.
It is fairly common to see speeds around 100 kph on descents, particularly where there is a small group out in front of the main body of the race.
Tour de France Speed Records
The 2005 TdF was the fastest Tour de France in history. Lance Armstrong rode 3.5 km in little more than 86h, thus realizing an average speed of 41.7 kph (25.9 mph), though his win was later annulled for doping offenses.
The slowest Tour de France was in 1919, when Firmin Lambot’s average speed was 24.1 kph.
Mario Cipollini won the fastest massed-start stage in 1999, from Laval to Blois (194.5 km) at 50.4 kph (31.32 mph).
- Rohan Dennis’ stage 1 of the Tour de France in Utrecht (2015) is the fastest time trial, with an average speed of 55.446 kph (34.5 mph).
- In a team time trial, the 2013 Orica GreenEDGE team won the fastest stage win. At 57.7 kph, they completed the 25 km time trial (35.85 mph).
- Marco Pantani set the record for the fastest climb of Alpe d’Huez in the 1997 Tour de France, clocking in at 23.1 kph (14.35 mph).
Professional cyclists travel at an average speed of 25-28 mph on flat terrain. The average amateur cyclist travels at 17-18 mph on flat ground.
For many pro cyclists competing in the Tour de France, maintaining a high speed on flat terrain is all they need to stay competitive.
The best gain separation from the peloton during the Tour de France’s climbing stages.
In every Tour de France, the cyclists must ride through at least one cobblestone section; however, this is occasionally replaced by a stretch of gravel pavement.
Even though the road’s small grooves and uneven terrain make it difficult to tread, these athletes still average 22-24 mph.
Athletes in the 2019 Tour de France averaged 12.8 mph while trudging up the race’s infamous climbs.
During this stage of the Tour de France, these athletes are literally cycling up and through the Pyrenees and Alps, providing some of the most memorable moments.
Nils Politt of Germany set the Tour de France speed record while descending the Col de Vars on stage 18 of the race. This was the second of the stage’s four climbs, and Politt became the first rider to break the 100 kph barrier by descending at a speed of 101.5 kph.
How Much Does Average Speed Matter for Amateur Cyclists?
Average speed is pretty meaningless with amateur cyclists. There are so many factors that can affect your average.
Every time you ride into the wind, stop at an intersection or slow down because a toddler is stumbling nearby, your average drops and doesn’t reflect your overall ability.
Average speed is really only meaningful if you are comparing “apples to apples” in terms of: Same bicycle, same tires, same tire inflation level, same body position on the bike, same weather conditions, same clothing (flappy or even loose clothing has an amazingly large effect on drag), same wind conditions, same course, same pavement type, same grade and amount of hills, the same degree of drafting (or not), the same number of stop signs and stop lights, same traffic slowdowns and waits, same distance (average speed a person can maintain will be vastly different at 1/4 mile, 1 mile, 5 miles, 20 miles, 50 miles, 200 miles), and so on.
Setting up your own time trial course and timing it is one way to get an apples-to-apples type comparison every once in a while if you like that type of thing.
My friend’s average speed can vary by maybe up to 80% or more just by changing some of those variables. For example, when he hops on his mountain bike and goes over to the neighborhood field to do some “mountain biking,” he often finds his GPS device reporting his average speed at less than 2 mph.
That’s because he’s working on little technical things, riding up short sharp hills, riding through deep grass, etc.
If he goes mountain biking, he has one average speed. Ride in the country it’s different. A ride downtown it’s different, yet, a ride on a trail is different. Riding in a flat area is different from a hilly area and very different per bike.
Average speed – even measured via an apples-to-apples type comparison as described above – is only important if you care about it. Many people just ride and have fun and don’t care at all.
Finally, suppose you’re interested in racing. In that case, you will care about average speed and fitness level, of course, and a lot of specific things related to racing technique and strategy.
That can be a lot of fun if you’re interested, but likely, 99.99% of people who bicycle never even think about entering a race.
