2024-02-02 10:05:00
Installing a bicycle chain by hand in the wind tunnel of the Aerotechnical Institute (IAT) of Saint-Cyr-L’Ecole, a few pedal strokes from the national velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Fabrice Ville, teacher-researcher at INSA Lyon, is ready to fight. His figure, he admits with a laugh, prevents him from any sporting exploits. But the brain is working hard to help the Blues “gain a few watts”.
Its mission: to work on the friction of the bicycle transmission – chain, chainring, sprocket – to try to reduce it as much as possible.
“There had been very few studies on the subject. And we found that the brand of the channel was not too important, he explains. This is reassuring because it means that when “We will see the British arrive with a new golden chain, that will not necessarily make the difference. The key points are the tension of the chain and the lubrication. We are looking at marginal gains which can make the difference between a first and a second in a sprint.”
Fabrice Ville’s research is part of the priority research program (PPR) “Very high performance sport” launched by the government in 2018 and allocated 20 million euros.
“The different teams in France were already working with bio-mechanists, physiologists, nutritionists and mental trainers. But there was no investment from hard sciences, mathematicians, physicists and mechanics,” argues Christophe Clanet, research director at CRNS, professor at Polytechnique and director of Sciences2024 which today runs a network of fifteen major schools determined to invest “100% until the Games”.
Retard
The government plan made it possible to finance twelve projects including the one that the French Cycling Federation (FFC) launched with rowing.
“If we want to continue to be among the strong nations,” insists Emmanuel Brunet, research and performance manager at the FFC, “we can no longer fall behind on the scientific aspects” in the face of nations “ahead of us” like the Australians who “showed the way with the Sydney Games” in 2000 or “the English who copied this model by putting even more resources into it” for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
At the FFC, several projects have been opened to help Mathilde Gros or Benjamin Thomas aim for gold.
In the historic buildings of the Aerotechnical Institute, a former automobile wind tunnel full of sensors and computers, the program made it possible to finance two “twin mannequins”, perfectly faithful replicas of the sprinter Sébastien Vigier and Benjamin Thomas, five-time champion of the world, thanks to 3D modeling and printing.
They are used by engineers to multiply tests to improve aerodynamics by working on posture but also on the fabrics used to obtain the least air-resistant suit possible.
Six prototypes were tested under the supervision of Philippe Odier, in order to “find the right roughness of the textile” which can allow, according to this teacher, researcher at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, to save “up to one second on a 45-second race.”
“40% of a roundregarding”
At the velodrome, the track riders work in a hypoxic tent which allows an altitude of up to 5,000 m to be simulated, and undergo tests by Iris Sachet, a former runner turned sports scientist, to obtain the most complete physiological profile. possible for each athlete.
“We try as much as possible to make the data speak,” underlines Iris Sachet who feeds the coaches almost in real time with analyzes and sometimes very detailed reports. “For example, we measure the impact of menstrual cycles on girls’ performance.”
Artificial intelligence helps define racing strategies and, with 3D modeling of the velodrome, determine the ideal trajectories that the track riders then try to memorize during training by following small white crosses taped to the track. “Clearly an advantage over foreign competition,” says Christophe Clanet.
The challenge for the director of Sciences2024 is to maintain this momentum beyond this summer. While the current project will end at the end of the year, he is campaigning for the creation of a “French research team”, particularly with a view to the 2030 Winter Games.
“We can say that 20 million euros is enormous. It’s true. But near my home, in Les Ulis, we are in the process of rebuilding a roundregarding and the region is investing 50 million euros. So we can also say that research for elite sport is 40% of a roundregarding. »
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