{"id":61572,"date":"2026-08-05T04:31:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T04:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/61572\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T04:31:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T04:31:13","slug":"padded-bra-cheating-claim-rocks-tour-de-france-femmes-as-bizarre-theory-swirls-around-cycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/61572\/","title":{"rendered":"Padded bra cheating claim rocks Tour de France Femmes as bizarre theory swirls around cycling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tour de France Femmes riders are facing allegations of gaining an advantage through the use of padded bras.<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s edition of cycling\u2019s biggest race began on Saturday and will run until Monday (AEST) across nine stages and 1,174 kilometres.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the 21km time trial stage took place which consists of each rider setting off individually in a race against the clock.<\/p>\n

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Aerodynamics plays a crucial role in a time trial performance, with the skinsuit, rider position, helmet, and a host of other factors taken into account to optimise the flow of air around the body.<\/p>\n

One of the areas that can create aerodynamic drag is around the chest \u2014 hence why the cyclists tuck into a position where their arms are outstretched in front of them.<\/p>\n

Belgian and Dutch cycling publication WielerFlits<\/a> has reported there have been several complaints from cycling\u2019s WorldTour teams alleging that padded sports bras are being used for aerodynamic advantage.<\/p>\n

They claim riders are faking a larger cup size to reduce their drag through the air.<\/p>\n

Padded bras are banned under the rules of cycling\u2019s world governing body, the Union Cycliste International (UCI).<\/p>\n

Teams reportedly called for inspectors to be introduced to check riders in a closed tent before time trials to \u201censure they are not hiding anything in their bras or under their aero clothing\u201d.<\/p>\n

This was then approved by the Tour de France Femmes as riders appeared for bike and outfit checks 10 minutes before their start time on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\"Fan<\/p>\n

Bert Blocken, professor of aerodynamics at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland and LUT in Finland, has published the theory that a rounder chest is advantageous when it comes to aerodynamics.<\/p>\n

He labelled the concept of placing an object inside a jersey or skinsuit to reduce aerodynamic drag and improve airflow around the body \u201cchest fairing\u201d, and said it can reduce drag by 3.6 per cent.<\/p>\n

Professor Blocken said: \u201cWe are talking about a Chest Fairing, which alters the airflow around the body, thereby reducing overpressure on the thighs. As a result, the rider experiences less air resistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not that you gain a benefit of tens of seconds with this in a time trial, but in a ride of 20 to 30 kilometres, it can yield seconds that can be decisive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swiss rider Marlen Reusser won the time trial to take the leader\u2019s yellow jersey.<\/p>\n

She has a 14-second advantage over pre-race favourite Demi Vollering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tour de France Femmes riders are facing allegations of gaining an advantage through the use of padded bras.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[38295,38297,38318,38284,38290,23630,38267,38276,38271,38251,38249,38233,38256,38268,38282,38278,38269,38294,38325,38257,38305,38242,38277,38228,38280,38327,38262,38302,38281,38285,38289,2012,14352,38321,38275,38310,38253,38320,38322,38229,16240,38237,1428,38236,38254,38230,618,5,2624,38264,38238,38248,38234,38244,38288,38274,38314,6737,38263,4469,38259,38304,38291,38308,38317,38311,9812,38265,38296,38324,38255,30466,9918,38232,38227,38246,1431,38316,38245,38306,38298,38272,38261,38312,38287,38243,38231,38283,38309,38315,38319,38252,38292,38239,38273,38307,38235,38323,38240,38299,38326,38279,38247,38258,38303,38260,38266,38313,38241,38301,38300,38250,1696,6499,38270,3689,38286,4169,38293],"class_list":["post-61572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-france","tag-s-biggest-race","tag-s-edition","tag-s-world-governing-body","tag-s-worldtour-teams","tag-s-yellow-jersey-she","tag-23630","tag-10-minutes","tag-174-kilometres-on","tag-20-to-30-kilometres","tag-3-6","tag-a-14-second-advantage","tag-a-benefit","tag-a-chest-fairing","tag-a-closed-tent","tag-a-crucial-role","tag-a-host","tag-a-jersey-or-skinsuit","tag-a-larger-cup-size","tag-a-position","tag-a-race","tag-a-result","tag-a-ride","tag-a-rounder-chest","tag-a-time-trial","tag-a-time-trial-performance","tag-account","tag-aerodynamic-advantage-they-claim","tag-aerodynamic-drag","tag-aerodynamics","tag-aerodynamics-he","tag-aest","tag-air","tag-airflow","tag-allegations","tag-an-advantage","tag-an-object","tag-bike-and-outfit-checks","tag-bizarre-theory","tag-bra-cheating","tag-cent-professor-blocken","tag-checks","tag-closed-tents","tag-cycling","tag-drag","tag-dutch-cycling-publication-wielerflits","tag-each-rider","tag-finland","tag-france","tag-front","tag-helmet","tag-heriot-watt-university","tag-inspectors","tag-just-1-aerodynamics","tag-kayo","tag-kayo-sports-new","tag-less-air-resistance","tag-lut","tag-monday","tag-nine-stages","tag-organisers","tag-other-factors","tag-overpressure","tag-overseas-live","tag-padded-bra-cheating","tag-padded-bras","tag-padded-sports-bras","tag-place","tag-pre-race-favourite-demi-vollering","tag-professor","tag-rider-position","tag-riders","tag-saturday","tag-scotland","tag-seconds","tag-several-complaints","tag-swiss-rider-marlen-reusser","tag-teams","tag-tens-of-seconds","tag-the-21km-time-trial-stage","tag-the-air-padded-bras","tag-the-airflow","tag-the-areas","tag-the-astonishing-allegations","tag-the-best","tag-the-biggest-aussie-sports","tag-the-body","tag-the-body-chest-fairing","tag-the-body-one","tag-the-chest","tag-the-clock-watch","tag-the-concept","tag-the-cyclists","tag-the-flow","tag-the-leader","tag-the-rider","tag-the-rules","tag-the-skinsuit","tag-the-theory","tag-the-thighs","tag-the-time-trial","tag-the-tour-de-france-femmes","tag-the-union-cycliste-international","tag-the-use","tag-the-women","tag-their-aero-clothing","tag-their-arms","tag-their-bras","tag-their-drag","tag-their-pre-race-protocols","tag-their-start-time","tag-them-belgian-and","tag-time-trials","tag-tour-de-france","tag-tour-de-france-femmes","tag-tour-de-france-femmes-riders","tag-tuesday","tag-tuesday-bert-blocken","tag-uci","tag-your-first-month"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}