Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 1991)
Smoke streams over LeMond’s head to give engineer a ‘look’at the air-flow. Mon find Machine The Texas A&M wind tunnel has played host to NASA re searchers, engineers from ma jor auto and aircraft manufactur ers, and now Greg LeMond. LeMond, The 1990 Tour De France winner, was at the wind tunnel attempting to improve the bicycle he rode to victory in the final stages of the race. John Cobb, a bicycle man ufacturer from Shreveport, Louisiana, was performing the tests with LeMond on products he has recently developed for time-trial racing. Aerodynamic drag was being calculated to measure the effi ciency of the bicycle and rider in different conditions. By calculating the aerodyna mic drag with LeMond in differ ent positions on the bicycle, the optimum set-up for the bicycle during races was determined. LeMond, who took time out of his busy pre-season schedule to help in the testing, was hounded by members of the media interested in finding out- how he was preparing for the upcoming racing season. ABC Sports, members of the French media and various on lookers were among those in at tendance at the testing ses sions. As constant improvements are being made to bicycle de sign, aerodynamics is becom ing one of the more important factors in world-class success in cycling. LeMond has a vested inter est in this type of testing, as he now owns a line of racing bicy cles similar to those he rides in competitive races. LeMond said that in his two weeks of training and prepara tion for the upcoming season, he feels stronger and stronger. He is also optimistic about the 1991 racing season as captain of the French Team ‘Z’. Coupled with the success of the testing, the chances of du plicating his victories from last season will be greatly in creased. Story by Photographs by CRAIG WILSON KARL STOLLEIS