Análisis de la estrategia de cambio de bicicleta durante etapas de cronoescalada

Abstract

The uphill time-trial is a cycling race in which there is at least one mountain pass or a combination of low
and high gradient sections. Usually, climbing cyclists achieve good results in uphill time-trials; however,
in addition to the cyclist’s ability, the race strategy is also important for achieving good results. As part of
the race strategy, the selection of the type of bicycle is important. The time-trial bicycles usually reduce
aerodynamic drag while the traditional road bicycles are lighter. Taking into account the road gradient
profile of the race, as part of the bicycle selection strategy, the cyclist can change the type of bicycle
during the race to take advantage of each one in specific sections of the route. This paper presents a
methodology for planning the bicycle change strategy for some ideal routes with simplified road gradient
profiles. An optimization problem is stated to minimize the race time and to find the location on the route
where the bicycle change must be done. The methodology is applied to three simplified road profiles to
define if the bicycle change strategy is beneficial when different cyclist’ power output levels are analyzed