Professional Cycling For the Fans - Usain Bolt in the Clean Bottle Costume!

Versus's exaggerated speed claims are getting a bit ridiculous. This morning Phil said the field was climbing at 15-20 mph and 15 seconds later, they showed dude in the Clean Bottle costume running up the hill with the front of the peloton at nearly the same pace.

Anyone else think that it seems like they're stretching the truth at times?

Yes. Makes for sensationalized reporting.

Versus's exaggerated speed claims are getting a bit ridiculous. This morning Phil said the field was climbing at 15-20 mph and 15 seconds later, they showed dude in the Clean Bottle costume running up the hill with the front of the peloton at nearly the same pace.

Anyone else think that it seems like they're stretching the truth at times?

Depends on the hill. Olympic sprinter can do about 30mph in the 100 meter. Mere mortals should be able to sprint at 15-20 mph for a short distance if the hill is not too steep. Maybe on a 4-6% grade for 50-60 meters or so. The only thing is that by the time the elite climbers are doing 10-12 mph the hill is pretty steep. Upwards of 10-12% grade. The average non overweight athletic person can probably run faster for 100 meters than these guys are going at the end of a long stage with a steep grade. It's obvious because you can see them doing it on the really steep sections towards the end of major climbs.

Mere mortals should be able to sprint at 15-20 mph for a short distance if the hill is not too steep.
OK, but while wearing a big mascot costume...? :D

I do think they're exaggerating. Here's Vande Velde's data for Stage 14: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/99936583

Looks to me like it's more like anywhere from 8-12mph.

Maybe they meant KPH? They are brits and it's probably easy to mix mph and kph.