Matthew Murray
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They call time trials the race of truth because there's nowhere to hide.
It's just one rider and his $15,000 aerodynamic racing machine against the
clock, with no pack to draft and no tactics other than go as fast as you can
bear. Bike and component companies spend millions on R&D to craft the
machines, sending the top riders into the wind tunnel to adjust their
positions, looking for every precious second.
How important are those seconds? In this year's Tour de France, Alberto
Contador beat Andy Schleck by only 39 seconds over the course of the course
of nearly 92 hours of racing -- or by the equivalent of 429 meters over the
3,642 kilometer race. Contador picked up 31 of those seconds in the Stage 19
time trial from Bordeaux to Pauillac. Oakley photographer Matthew Murray
captured the action in the village of Issan.
Alberto Contador went on to win his third Tour de France
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