Froome and Cycling Technique

We have spoken about cycling and high cadence in order to be effective and fast.  Froome has given us a lesson about cycling and I found a computer recording of what he is able to do.

I found the 10^th stage of LA VUELTA A ESPAÑA recorded.  What Brownlee did going uphill in Austria a few weeks ago was not an easy task (please see previous post).  If you want to see the Froome’s graphic check the link below:

http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/Z3JDD63H2UVGP77YSXNITPULAE

Vuelta Stage 10 Time Trial

Monday, August 29, 2011 : Bike

by Chris Froome

Duration0:56hh:mm

Distance47.5km

TSS™86points

Graph

PowerHeartRateSpeedElevationCadenceTemperature00:1000:2000:3000:4000:50010020030040050060070080090010011012013014015016017018019001836547290108126144162025507510012515017520022500:1500:3000:45

Athlete & Coach comments

Chris Froome

Vuelt a Espana 2011 Stage 10: Salamanca 47km Stage Results: 1.Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad.0:55:54. 2.Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky.0:00:59. 3.Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Sky.0:01:22. 4.Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Leopard Trek.0:01:27. 5.Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team.0:01:33. General Classification: 1.Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky.38:09:13. 2.Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek.0:00:12. 3.Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Sky.0:00:20. Average Watts: 406w (412np) TSS: 99 Avg Speed: 31mph max Speed: 45mph Avg Cadence: 94 Avg Heart Rate: 147bpm Chris Froome rode the time trial of his life as he rode his way into the overall lead in the Vuelta. The Kenyan-born climber finished second behind Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) in the 47km time trial to overtake the general classification lead by 12 seconds ahead of of Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard Trek). Team Sky's head physiologist Tim Kerrison is delighted with Froome's performance, "Chris is doing a great job in the race looking after Brad and staying in contention himself." Froome averaged 5.8w/kg at 406W for nearly an hour! He paced the event to perfection as the first half had a total altitude gain of 219m and he averaged 414w, versus the second half where the course had a total elevation gain of only 86m and he averaged 398w. There were certainly riders who started the time trial too hard and suffered the final 20kms where Froome ended up gaining ground. This is the ideal test of one's true capabilities at what is termed Functional Threshold Power (FTP). A cyclist's FTP is the average watts they can mantain for a 60' effort. Given the fact that Froome's 47km time trial took him 57 minutes we can easily conclude that his FTP equals a tad more than 400w. Now that you know what it takes to compete at the highest levels it can be easy to see how you compare to the world's best. Well it's easy to do if you have a power meter that is. If you don't own one try asking if your local fitness gym has any indoor bikes which display power. Or ask at your local cycling club to see if you can rent one for a day in order to conduct some of your own field tests. How long can you maintain 5.8 watts per kilogram? Chris Froome can do this for 60' and now he knows his true poetntial and can apply those power values within his future training. Another great concept we can learn from Froome's TT file is the idea of assigning a score, known as Training Stress Score (TSS), to each and every ride. Froome rode for almost 60' at FTP so that equals 99TSS. One hour at FTP equals 100TSS. Using TrainingPeaks and SRM power meters Team Sky can quanify each days training load in terms of intensity, duration and frequency. When viewed over time TSS values paint a picture of each athlete's fitness, fatigue and form. There is no doubt that Froome started the Vuelta with high fitness and low fatigue. This is the ultimate scenario for any professional rider who hopes to enter their important races with peak form.

During the stage 15 of the tour the France, which I was not able to get for the post, you will notice his cadence.  His cadence is as high as Wiggins or Armstrong’s cadence going uphill.  We have shown different graphics regarding power and different cadence; at low cadence the need of producing more watts to go fast as with high cadence is evident: