Alberto Contador of Liberty Seguros has been hailed in Spain as the rider most likely to bring back the stage-racing glory days of Miguel Indurain. If such a thing is even possible, it may well be that Contador is the man to do it. And if not him, it may well be his younger teammate Luis Leon Sanchez.

Able to climb as well as time trial, Contador is a big prospect for team director Manolo Saiz, who gave him his first pro contract with ONCE in 2003 and just signed him again for an extended contract.

Contador, 22, and Sanchez, 21, made the trek from Spain to Boston in late September, with the intention of improving their time trial positions in the MIT wind tunnel. Both of them put up some impressive numbers in the facility, leading us to believe some of the hype surrounding them.

Contador and Sanchez are perhaps best known for their exploits in theTour Down Under this spring. On the penultimate stage, 147km stage,Sanchez attacked on Old Willunga Hill, taking Contador with him. The two finished 1-2, with Contador getting the stage win and Sanchez solidifying his lead and eventually taking the overall victory.

In testing performed in Spain, the 153-pound Sanchez and lighter Contador have both demonstrated the ability to put out impressive power, hovering around 500 Watts continuously over an hour time trial, according to Fabio Selvig, Director of Team Sponsorships for Liberty Seguros, who accompanied Saiz and the two young guns to Boston.

However, particularly impressive for him was the fact that his aerodynamic drag was lower coming into the wind tunnel, before improvements were made with his position by the MIT staff, than any pro rider previously tested in that tunnel after being dialed-in for optimized time trial position. And the list of clients of the MIT wind tunnel are impressive, including such notables as Ivan Basso and Tyler Hamilton.

Contador, who suffered a brain aneurism during the 2004 Semana Catalana, had a breakout season this year, coming back following his exploits in Australia to win this year’s Semana Catalana and the time trial in the Tour of the Basque Country. His aerodynamic drag with his existing position established by Saiz was 4.06 pounds into a 30mph headwind directed at him by the wind tunnel.

After shifting his head, dropping his shoulders, and changing into a skin suit and the team’s MET aero’ helmet, his drag dropped to an incredibly efficient 3.50 pounds. Sanchez came into the tunnel with 4.19 pounds of drag and left at 4.03 pounds after dropping his shoulders and tipping his aero’ extensions down 7.5 degrees.

These two riders “are our two ‘young aces’,” says Selvig, who expects them to develop into team leaders. When asked if big things could be expected from these riders, Kim Blair, the director of the MIT Center for Sports Innovation and Technology performed the wind tunnel testing, said, “Absolutely, if those power numbers are accurate (he measured their drag numbers in the tunnel but did not measure their power outputs).”

Mark Cote, an MIT undergraduate student who works with Blair in the wind tunnel, said, “Both riders came into the tunnel with solid time trial positions. This allowed us to focus on the little things to get them to maximize their potential.”

“It was a real pleasure working with someone as progressive as Manolo Saiz. It is clear he is interested in using every technological weapon to help his riders' performance," Blair noted. "Any rider wanting to compete at the top level of sport needs the technology advantage afforded by wind tunnel testing.”

“Today, everyone has the best training and access to the best equipment," Cote added. "Wind tunnel testing is a great way to gain an edge.”

Indeed, you, too, can use this wind tunnel to improve your own speed on the bike. Blair makes the MIT wind tunnel service available through local bike shops and bike fitting services in the Boston area. Those outside of Boston may contact him at: BlairK@mit.edu.

---

Technical writer Lennard Zinn is a frame builder (www.zinncycles.com), a former U.S. national team rider and author of several books on bikes and bike maintenance including the pair of successful maintenance guides " Zinn & the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance" and "Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance."Zinn's regular column is devoted to addressing readers' technical questions about bikes, their care and feeding and how we as riders can use them as comfortably and efficiently as possible. Readers can send brief technical questions directly to Zinn. Zinn’s column appears here each Tuesday.