The Triathlete Blueprint Newsletter #116-What Triathletes Can Learn from the Tour de France

Yan Busset
Jul 19
7 min read

Read time: 5min.

By Coach Yan Busset

How the Tour de France Can Make You a Better Triathlete

What Triathletes Can Learn from the Tour de France

Every July, the world turns its eyes to the Tour de France. For some, it’s a spectacle, the scenery, and the crazy finishes. For others, like me, it’s also a time to observe, analyze, and learn. I’m a lifelong Tour de France fan. I was lucky enough to be born and raised in France before moving to Finland, and I still have vivid memories of watching the Tour pass right outside my bedroom window. I've seen the riders fly by many times, and I never miss a stage, whether on TV or checking updates on my phone.

As a professional triathlon coach, I can’t help but notice the parallels between professional cycling and triathlon. The Tour remains one of the most demanding sporting events on the planet. And while age group triathletes shouldn’t aim to copy-paste what the pros do, there’s plenty they can learn.

Here are the key takeaways triathletes can borrow from the Tour de France.

1. Master Your Bike Handling

Bike handling is often overlooked in triathlon, yet when you watch the Tour de France, it’s clear that these athletes are absolute masters of their machines. Despite all the crashes we see, what’s more impressive is how many crashes are actually avoided. These guys are born on bikes, they ride elbow to elbow in a peloton of over a hundred, they dress on the bike, eat at full speed, bunny hop curbs, descend like missiles, and carve through corners like they’re on rails. Even in chaos, they manage to stay upright thanks to years of skill development and instinct.

In contrast, many age group triathletes come into the sport without a cycling background. They train hard, build powerful engines, and get faster, but their technical skills often don’t follow. The result? A dangerous mix of high speed and poor control. As the saying goes, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

Bike handling isn’t just about avoiding crashes, it’s about saving energy and going faster. If you don’t corner efficiently, if you brake too much in descents, or if you’re constantly tense on the bike, you’re wasting watts. Over the course of 180 km, the cost of poor handling adds up quickly. And the mental toll of constantly being stressed on the bike? That’s energy you’ll miss later in the race.

It’s worth taking the time to practice: learn to ride in a group, improve your cornering, practice braking smoothly, and get used to navigating close quarters. Knowing how to move on a bike makes you safer, more relaxed, and ultimately faster.

2. Fuel Like the Pros (Within Reason)

Watching the Tour, one thing that jumps out in recent years is how much more carbs the pros are consuming. Thanks to mixing carbs source which increases their assimilation, It’s no longer rare to hear of athletes taking in 120 to 160 grams of carbohydrates per hour. That’s a massive increase compared to what was considered normal even just a few years ago (60 to 90 grams/hour).

This shift helps explain many of the jaw-dropping performances we see. And we’re seeing the same approach trickle into professional triathlon. The idea is simple: more carbs = more fuel = more output. But of course, this isn’t something you can blindly copy.

Age groupers need to adapt this strategy intelligently. The pros are riding for 5–7 hours a day, every day, burning 5000 to 9000 of calories, and they’ve trained their gut to handle extreme carb loads. For an age-grouper who’s going to be out there for 9 to 16 hours, matching these numbers and you’ll hit saturation.

However, on the bike leg, where your stomach is most stable and least impacted by movement, you can and should test your limits. Use your training to experiment. See what your stomach tolerates. Use products that combine multiple carb sources (like glucose + fructose) to improve absorption. Don’t just stick to gels if they make you nauseous; try drinks, bars, homemade options, find what works for you.

There’s no universal number, but the trend is clear: under-fueling is a major limiter. If you want to perform, start treating your nutrition strategy like your intervals. Plan it, test it, and improve it, train your guts.

3. Don’t Skip the Warm-Up

Every time there’s a time trial in the Tour, you see the same thing: riders warming up seriously, with focus, dripping sweat on their turbo trainers before they even clip in at the start line. Why? Because they know that to perform at their best, they need their body fully ready.

In triathlon, especially before the swim, this is often completely ignored. For many athletes, the warm-up consists of splashing their face, maybe two strokes of crawl, and that’s it. But this is a problem. Triathlon is our version of a time trial, and a proper warm-up is key to hitting your potential.

Of course, the length and intensity of the warm-up should match the event. You won’t do a full warm-up before an Ironman. But for sprint and Olympic races, or even for the swim leg of a 70.3, you should be preparing properly. That means swimming a few hundred meters, doing a few short accelerations, and getting the heart rate up.

Without it, you’ll start the race too hard, and after 200–300 meters, you’ll feel it, a sudden wall, shortness of breath, panic. In open water, that can be dangerous. Especially for those who don’t feel confident in the swim, skipping the warm-up increases anxiety. Being surrounded by waves and people, with your heart rate skyrocketing, is not where you want to be.

If access to the water isn’t allowed, find alternatives. Jog, use resistance bands, get moving. Don’t stand still. The pros don’t, and neither should you.

4. Gear Lessons from the Tour

a) Tire Width: From 23mm to 30mm and BeyondIn the past, pros rode 23 mm tires. Then came the 25s. Now? 28 mm is standard, and many teams go all the way to 30 or 32 mm. Why? Because wider tires, when properly set up, reduce rolling resistance. That’s right—bigger isn’t always slower. You get better grip, more comfort, and extra speed.

Lower air pressure (made possible by wider tires, often tubeless) means more shock absorption. The casing of the tire does more of the work, and you feel less vibration through the frame. For long-course triathlon, that matters. The more comfortable you are, the less fatigue you carry into the run.

But don’t just slap on a 32 mm tire. The width of your rim needs to match. If your tire is wider than your rim was designed for, you’ll lose the aerodynamic benefit. However, if you’re not chasing podiums and care more about finishing strong, comfort may be the priority—and in that case, wider is better.

b) Aero Helmets: The Flared RevolutionLook at the helmets in the Tour. Almost every brand has adopted a new shape: wide, flared designs that channel airflow not just over the back, but around the shoulders. These new helmets look extreme—somewhere between a Death Star pilot and a street lamp, but they’re fast. And that’s why every pro team is using them.

That said, aero helmets are highly personal. The one that’s fastest in the lab might not work for you. It depends on how stable you hold your head, your position on the bike, and your ability to maintain it for hours.

Some helmets are better if you move your head a lot. Some only work if you’re super low and still. Before buying one, think about your actual riding position, not the one you wish you had. But if you’re chasing speed, aero helmets are one of the easiest and most impactful upgrades you can make.

c) Chainring Size: Don’t Undergear YourselfThe Tour has shown us that bigger is better, at least when it comes to front chainrings. Bikes are faster. Athletes are stronger. And to avoid spinning out at high speeds or riding in tiny cogs that create poor chain alignment, pros are moving to massive chainrings.

This isn’t just about speed, it’s about efficiency. Bigger chainrings let you ride on mid-cassette gears where the chain is straighter and friction is lower. Riding a 50-tooth ring while stuck on your 11-tooth cog? That’s not optimal. You’re stressing the drivetrain, increasing friction, and spinning too fast.

I’ve looked at many age groupers’ setups, good riders, solid power, and they’re often undergeared. On flat or false flat sections, they’re spinning like crazy and still not carrying speed. That’s wasted effort.

A higher gear allows for lower cadence, which, for sub-threshold work, is usually more efficient. The muscle contracts more slowly, and you can produce steady power without burning out. Just be careful: changing your chainring size may require a new chain, derailleur adjustment, and checking the gap between big and small rings.

The Tour de France is a masterclass in endurance performance. And while age group triathletes shouldn’t try to mimic everything they see, there’s enormous value in observing how the pros operate. Whether it’s bike handling, fueling, warming up, or making smart gear choices, each detail makes a difference.

My job is to take the lessons, filter them, and apply what can fit your reality. We are not pro athletes, we are real-world people. That’s how progress happens: not by copying, but by adapting smart ideas to your own journey.

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