but there is a Group A French lady in the results book with a time of 88:35.
but who started with group F so perhaps a late change?
Yes, probably, but group F is the 90 hour velo speciale group and from her Maindru photos she was riding a normal bike, very nice with big tyres and disk brakes, much like my n+1 would be. I didn’t really notice her bike when I passed her and can’t tell if she is the same woman, but the tracker timings seem right. I checked in at Brest half an hour after her but didn’t stop so I would have caught her reasonably quickly.
Traditionally the 80hr DNF rate was much higher than the 84hr which was lower than the 90hr but PBP19 flipped this all around. Usually the 90hr velo speciale had the worst DNF rate of every start but in 2019 was pretty average and the 84hr VS DNF rate was incredibly high this time. I’m not entirely sure what has driven these changes. The headwind on the return was annoying and draggy but it didn’t seem to be enough to cause devastation to riders. We were in 90hr VS this time and stayed within a few hours of control closing times most of the way round, so didn’t get much tailwind.
By the way, Group A is 80hr vedette, so getting homologated in 88hrs (homologated or HD?) indicates something unusual has happened.
I have known much worse headwinds but the constant draggy nature of the 2019 PBP headwind both ways certainly ground me down, as reflected in my average riding speed compared to 2015 from the same Group Z 84 hour start. It was down from 23.7km/h in 2015 to 22.4km/h in 2019 adding 2 hours 33 minutes to my riding time. Also I was fitter in 2019, having done a personal best in the Mersey 24 hour TT and some of my quickest Audax rides too.
The route was about 0.8% shorter in 2019 compared to 2015, but according to my Strava there was about 6.9% more ascent, which didn’t particularly bother me but would have tipped many potential full value finishers into HD or DNF categories.
Cold nights were another massive factor in the 2019 DNF rate especially for riders from hot climates. I’ve done plenty of rides in sub-zero temperatures but have been prepared and had enough clothing to cope with it. I expected minimum temperatures of about 9 degrees on PBP and was caught out when it was actually just 1 degree at times and I didn’t have the necessary layers with me. Even wearing my foil blanket all night I only just got away with it.
Aside from wind, hills and cold the other major factor for many DNFs was spending too much time off the bike, with wasting time queuing at controls the main culprit. This was made worse in 2019 by increased rider numbers. For 80 hour starters, especially those in Group A this would not have been a problem particularly on the way to Brest and after Loudeac on the return. Starting last I had to go through the bulge but dodged queues by taking a slight weight penalty and carrying enough food for the whole ride. My total time off the bike was 6 hours 23 minutes.