The huge numbers behind Bruno Armirail's 1-hour 32-minute World Championship demolition job

"It's really bizarre sometimes how fast that guy can ride. He just kept going. Although it does make a difference when you're in the lead, because then you don't have to constantly sprint out of those turns," said Visma | Lease a Bike teammate Huising.

Bart Lemmen, who is also his teammate in everyday life, agreed with him. “That was really fast, and you could tell that everyone was slowly running out of steam. I certainly was,” the Dutchman continued. “And then you know the final sprint is coming early. Bruno isn’t going to ride like that and then let the pace drop again.”

Remco Evenepoel also struggled with the pace set by Armirail, which team leader Paul Seixas was ultimately unable to sustain. “The pace was incredibly high right from the first lap, and that’s what made it such a strange race. Maybe they even wore out their own team leader in the process.”

Armirail pulled out of the race fairly quickly and gave an interview to CyclingProNet. “This was my job. That’s what we had to do: make the race tough starting at the circuit, so that’s what we did. We had a breakaway group that I think had a lead of almost 8 or 9 minutes as we turned onto the circuit, and by the time I dropped back, it was down to just 20 seconds,” he noted.

"The important thing is to keep going as long as possible, no matter what. Thomas Voeckler (national team coach, ed.) knows me; he knows I'll give it my all. The plan wasn't necessarily to go all out for two or three laps, but if I couldn't go any further, I'd stop," said the Frenchman.

"That gives the guys behind me some breathing room, too. So yeah, if I could have kept going for one more lap, that would have been cool, but oh well, it is what it is—my tank was empty and I didn't get much help."

Armirail—who, according to PCS, weighs 72 kilograms—also posted his power data on Strava, which paints a compelling picture. From this, it’s clear that he rode at the front for 1 hour and 32 minutes—or nearly that long—with an average NP (normalized power) of 440 watts and an average speed of 42.3 kilometers. That’s a great way to finish the ride!