The 2023 edition of the Italian grand tour features more kilometers against the clock than fans of the race have seen for over a decade.

The Giro kicks off Saturday with a 19.6-kilometer TT from Fossacesia Marina to Ortona. It will be followed on stage eight with a flat, fast 34-kilometer chrono from Savignano sul Rubicone to Cesena. If those individual tests—or the mountains in between them—don’t decide the race for the maglia rosa, the Giro could still be won or lost on the second last day: another time trial, this time uphill, on Monte Lussari.

Every second will count. To prepare for the Giro’s TTs, our Head of Performance Peter Schep uses Best Bike Split.

Best Bike Split is an innovative app which uses course information, power data, and weather conditions to inform race-day pacing plans. The app’s math and physics engine lets Peter plan out our races with unmatched accuracy and detail.

Peter plugs in course data, our riders’ power numbers and aerodynamic profiles, and the predicted wind and weather conditions to determine the fastest pacing strategy for our athletes during the Giro’s time trials. Thanks to the app, he can tell them where they should go hardest and where they can relax. The goal is for them to come across the finish line absolutely empty, having dosed their effort across the course’s terrain to achieve the fastest speed.

“You start with a fuel tank of available energy, and you want to empty this fuel tank during the ride as efficiently as possible to get the fastest result out of the course,” Peter says.

That is a matter of using the most effort on the sectors where the most time can be gained.

Consider stage one. The Giro’s 19.6-km opening time trial along the Adriatic coast includes a little more than 100 meters of elevation gain, concentrated on the final hill, the Corso Garibaldi, a 1.2-km, 5.2% ramp which the riders will climb at the end of the course. That climb will be decisive, but wind conditions by the sea will be a crucial factor in determining the optimal pacing strategy as well.

“Best Bike Split will help us to pull in the weather forecast,” Peter says. “The TT is along the coast, so it is quite weather dependent and wind dependent. The forecast is predicting about 22 degrees celsius, so no crazy temperatures, but the wind forecast has swapped significantly in the last few days, and that has made a minute difference already to our estimations. If it is tailwind, there will be quite a focus on the hill. If it is headwind, the flat section in the early stages will be longer and more demanding, and will ask for a bit more power output on that section, meaning a little less on the hill. The differentiation in power outputs is very important to get the best result. Of course, we’re not talking about minutes. It is about seconds, but if you see the results at this level in TTs, it is all about seconds, so it is really important to have the right pacing.”

Best Bike Split will also help Peter determine the best bike set up for our athletes in the TT. With the app, Peter can manage trade offs between weight and aerodynamics for any given course. Our team has wind-tunnel tested every wheel and tire combination that we have in our mechanics’ truck and Peter can plug those CdA (coefficient of aerodynamic drag) values into the program. It will then account for the various yaw angles that our riders are likely to face on the road. Unlike the final time trial, which will in the end be a race against gravity, stage one will be all about reducing wind and rolling resistance to a minimum.

“The faster you go, those factors make a bigger difference,” Peter says. “I’m always playing with the drag penalties or the drag potential gains and playing with the weight. Let’s say if I add 1.5kg to the models for stage one, you don’t lose so much—a few seconds only. That’s because the climb is not too steep, and two minutes over the course of the whole 22 minutes that we expect the race to take is not that long. The longer the climb, the greater the impact of the weight. The key thing for May 6th is having fast tires and aerodynamics.”

Having a fast bike and a fast position is a given on our team. With Vision wheels and Vittoria tires, our Cannondale SuperSlices are the best in the business. Our riders have refined their positions. The hard thing is keeping aero at race pace. With Best Bike Split, Peter can show our athletes just how critical that is.

“In the model, if a rider is able to be 5% more efficient in aerodynamics, he will gain 20 seconds. To me, 5% is a lot, but it can often just be a case of keeping your head in the right position. If you often move your head from your optimum position, you can mess up your drag by more than 5%, and on this course that would already equate to 20 seconds. So, I always play a bit with these numbers to show the DSs and the riders that drifting a tiny bit out of position could immediately cost them 15 to 30 seconds.”

Keeping aero will be particularly difficult on the final climb. The best time trialists are able to pedal at close to their maximum power in their TT positions. Although aerodynamics are always a factor, as speeds slow and the effort becomes more of a race against gravity, every rider reaches a tipping point where it becomes faster to sit up and stand and push more power through their pedals.

“Many climbs have turns left and right and you want to go out of the saddle,” Peter says. “It becomes all about power output. Out of the saddle is easier if you are a bit more upright in a really relaxed, comfortable position, so you can play with swapping standing, sitting and so on.”

Best Bike Split will help Peter determine where each rider will hit that critical speed where additional power will trump aerodynamics. The climb at the end of stage one of the Giro will be right on that limit for most riders, so knowing exactly where they can sit up and just go all out will be key.

“You need to put in a CdA for the flat section, which is let’s say, 0.17 to 0.2, roughly for most of the riders in the peloton and uphill there is a 25% or 30% drag penalty because of the relaxed position, so you have to put that number in as well. You have two different CdAs, a full-speed aerodynamic position and one for climbing,” he says.

The app will also help Peter determine where each of our riders should best go in the red.

“The total amount of energy available for the duration is important,” Peter says, “but inside this energy tank, there is also a given anaerobic, functional reserve capacity. This anaerobic capacity is quite limited. You need to know if a rider is able to push this specific power number on this hill. Because we will go significantly over 50 km/hr, let’s say the race will take 22 minutes. For a certain rider, you might have 400 watts available, and this program will help you get the most efficient differentiation on each sector. It might, for example, give you 385 for how many minutes on the flat and then give you the exact target number for watts on this two-minute hill.”

In the Giro’s opening TT, our riders will fight for every second. They are not favorites, but to stay in contention on the GC, Hugh and Rigo will have to race intelligently. They are aiming to peak in the mountains in the third week, where the final TT will be crucial. But spending their effort smartly in the opening chrono and in the second time trial on stage eight could keep them in the race for the pink jersey.

They will be able to do that thanks to Best Bike Split.