Lots of action today with Contador crashing and eventually abandoning. Tony Martin on the attack again, this time dragging team mate Kwiatkowski with him…and a few stragglers. Rodriguez is back and hitting the mountains points. Voekler mkes the break and is still pulling faces…check out the highlights and other video links below.
Climbing Power – Aerobic and Anaerobic Contribution
Climbing power is a combination of Anaerobic Work Capacity (AEC) and the upper limits of sustained aerobic power such as Onset of Blood Lactate Accumulation (OBLA), Lactate Threshold (LT) or Functional Threshold Power (FTP). Basically being able to ride at the highest aerobic level possible (L4 in the Fitlab zones) combined with the amount of work that can be done above that level (or shorter burst of high power output L5-L7 in the Fitlab zone).
Table from: Critical Power and Anaerobic Capacity of Grand Cycling Tour
Winners by C Dauwe
Every rider is a different mix of these two skills and therefore responds to races and training differently. Some riders have high OBLA/FTP power to weight and therefore prefer to ride at a high aerobic pace with little or no bursts into the anaerobic range. While others may have less OBLA/FTP power to weight, but high AEC (volume of work they can do anaerobically). These riders will try to break up the rhythm of the other riders by doing high repeated anaerobic bursts (0-3mins), and settle back to their aerobic level. Their average power up the climb may be the same, but they go about it totally differently. One steady, and broken by bursts of speed. Wiggins/Indurain would be examples of the steady riders while Rodriguez/Pantani use their AEC to break up the steady pace.
Video highlights and live coverage links
- Stage 10 summary
- Last km of stage 10
- No free time for the riders…
- Live coverage stage 11 (rest day tonight – catch up on your sleep)
Recent Comments