You’re right, he doesn’t look too bad in this position, but it’s not good form, and the reason he’s reverting to poor form is that he was coming apart in the breakaway of the pro race at the cobb lake classic with 2km to go. Even high-level riders lose form when they get tired, and that’s why we said earlier, that you’ll have to practice this technique A LOT.  In the photo on the right, you’ll notice the same athlete has his elbows bent, and his thumbs and core are bearing the weight of his upper body. The fundamental difference here is where the pressure on the hand is being placed, and how the elbows being in the bent position take the pressure off the wrist and palm, and utilize the core. Instead of grabbing your bars with the center of your palm, think about wrapping your hand around the bar, bearing the weight with the muscles by your thumb, and bracing with the heel of your hand. Instead of grabbing or holding, think of wrapping your hands around the bar. 

Check out this video demonstration from our Body Position video course library by coach Tom Danielson, where he explains not only the importance of the hand position that we teach here at CINCH but also the other 2 points of contact that have a massive impact on your ride.

If you’re interested in learning more about body position techniques or any of our FORM Performance coaching method’s check out this link HERE.

Tom Danielson-CINCH Cycling.