If you are passionate about cycling or if, doing zappingyou came across a stage of the Tour de France 2025 You may have heard of fans – echelon in English and borders in French. In this sport that tests the physique and mind of the athletes, sometimes the biggest challenge are not the very steep climbs but an invisible enemy who can decide a race in a few minutes: the lateral wind.
The fans are a team strategy that allows you to fight this enemy by applying the laws of physics But, be careful, it is not just a “defensive” move but a real attack which can break the group into two sections and allow escape. Specifically, the group cyclists do they have diagonal, staggered one compared to the other starting from the side of the road from which the wind pulls and towards the opposite side.
An example is the first stage of this year’s tour, in Lille, in which the fans, unleashed by the team Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma), decided the fate of the favorites, immediately putting in difficulty Evenepol And Roglič while the reigning champion Tadej Pogačar He was clinging to the race.
The wake and the wind: a little physical and a little cyclists
During a cycling race, the forces involved are many and cyclists must engine save energy and have a more efficient ride. When the road is flat or downhill, the real enemy to beat becomes the aerodynamic resistance. To win it, the cyclists adopt a series of precautions: it goes fromOptimization of the location in the saddletoUse of specific clothing and components (frames, wheels), up to the most effective tactics of all: exploit the trail of those who precede, pedaling “wheel”.
In fact, a moving cyclist moves the air, creating an area of high pressure in front of him and one of low pressure immediately behind. When the wind is frontal (more common situation) The best place for reparasi is directly behind the corridor preceding, remaining “in the wake” (drafting).
The cyclist in the wake is almost “sucked” forward by this low pressure area, saving up to 30-40% of energy, not having a “wall of air” to be contrasting in front of it and going faster with mendo effort. The same principle is also exploited by the Formula 1 car. The trail in cycling is a cooperative system: in turn the pedalors alternate with the command because those in front of them suffer the maximum resistance of the air, a role too expensive from support for a long time; It is also important that runners remain at a safe distance to avoid accidents.
But when the wind is lateral What happens? The low pressure area is no longer located behind the runner but diagonally. In this case, in fact, remaining “in the wake” (and therefore behind the wheel of those who preceded), would not allow you to completely shelter. For example, if the wind blows from the right, the “shelter” will be behind the left of the cyclist in the head. It is precisely here that i fans: team strategies in which cyclists have diagonal starting from the side of the road from which the wind pulls, won to the opposite side, and staggered one compared to the other.
How the fans work: from shelter against the lateral wind to attack strategy
Usually in one team race As can be a stage of the Tour de France or the Giro d’Italia, the fan disposition can be used by a team for Create a gap on opponents. First of all, to implement this strategy there must be certain conditions:
- A group – the largest set of cyclists who proceed compactly – composed of different teams,
- A strong lateral wind,
- A long straight road with a wide roadway.
The latter feature is important because once all the width of the track is occupied, the cyclists left after all must position themselves in single fileremaining exposed to the strong side wind and having to detach from the head group.
But how is a fan formed in the race? The team he wants to attack at the top of the group before a stretch exposed to the wind, increases speed and, starting from the edge of the road, you immediately have in Finding formationoccupying the whole road. At this point, alternating between teammates as in the “classic wake”, the cyclists protected by the fan can “push” on the pedals to increase the advantage and create a large gap thanks to the wind that is now their ally. Those excluded from training with theair and the last cyclist of theechelon – lo Stopper – that there blockInstead, they are forced to create another fan to stay in the race and limit the damage. This is the demonstration that cycling is not only a resistance sport, but a game of intelligence, positioning and understanding of physics.
