Originally Posted by gaucho777

It is interesting to compare the average speed of past Tour de France winners. Here is a list: Tour de France winners and their average speeds - VeloNews.com

From 2000-2011, during the drug-aided era of the Lance Armstrong victories and advances in monocoque carbon technology, the average speed of the winner was 25.1 mph. Compare that to Bernard Hinault's average speed of 24.4 mph in 1981, or Eddy Merckx's 23.8 mph average in 1971, or Jacques Anquetil's 23.2 mph average in 1962. When you strip away the benefits of PEDS and other nutrition and training advances, then realize that the races used to be far longer, on rougher roads, with less mechanical support, baggy kit, outdated footwear, etc. and it's hard to argue that modern bikes are dramatically faster. There are obvious advantages to climbing an alpine pass on a 16-lb. bike, but the overall differences in terms of actual results are not as large as some people might expect.