4 juil. 2014

Triathlon: How Bad the Cycling Segment Is?



I read comments on slowtwitch related to ITU racing that I consider valid as well as comments on Barrie Shepley.
Re: Question for Barrie Shepley [trail] [In reply to]




here's what i'm talking about. here's a pro women's cycling race, photo by herbert, earlier this year.
 
you have to look close to see, but even with my bad eyesight not one of these girls is negotiating this turn with her hands on her hoods (except the one who's gapped, and maybe one girl who's in the second half of that pack, approaching the turn, on the outside). you cannot race in close quarters safely if your hands are on the hoods. you are not prepared to get out of the saddle and accelerate out of the turn if you're on the hoods. you're not ready to take that turn at speed if you're on the hoods.

and yet, even in the 180s, these girls (and guys) who race ITU, some of these entire packs are universally on their hoods. what is it the ITU racers know that the pro bike racers do not know?...
the irony here is that bike racers are the ones sitting more forward on their bikes, the triathletes are anchored on the backs of their saddles, the bike racers are racing with flatter bikes, the triathletes are up, on the hoods, only small bends in their elbows, up into the wind.

 
so, long explanation, sorry, that's 90 seconds of your life you're never going to get back, but, what say you? what am i missing? i'm not eager to criticize these athletes for their cycling, because they've proven repeatedly that they are very strong on the bike. and, i'm not talking about everyone. but i am talking about probably half or more of the men and probably 2/3 or more of the women.
Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

We have mentioned in the past similar observations and have written several “posts” regarding this matter:
2 sept. 2013
After the last competition in Stockholm, we have the watts measured by Laurent Vidal.  Thanks again to Vidal for this opportunity to learn some more about cycling.  Vidal produced 368 watts during the 40k; meaning 5.5watts/kg.  This number places him as a Pro Domestique in a cycling team…Froome was able to go 5 kilometers per hour faster.  It is related to the terrain, but it is also related to the efficiency while cycling.  Efficiency is closely related to technique; meaning effective cornering, cadence while cycling, peaks and accelerations, aerodynamic posturing, etc.  We should learn how to improve efficiency while riding which is done by improving technique.  Armstrong (doped or not) improved his efficiency over the course of seven years that he was tested by Dr. Coyle, 2%.
Accelerations is what wears out the competitors.  Points race is very similar to the peloton encounter in ITU triathlon except that triathlon´s peloton has less accelerations during the race; it is not a rocket science to determine that training should be similar TO TRACK TRAINING FOR A POINTS RACE.  Look at how speed goes up by increasing cadence and how the same goes down when cadence decreases, and the need of the cyclist to accelerate when his cadence drops.  If we teach cyclist to keep cadence up, the acceleration would exist, but not to the degree of increasing power to more than 2000 watts.  The question would always exist, is our athlete coachable or does he have the capacity to learn or to be taught?  This is the limit between the good and the exceptional: EDUCATION.
 
18 juil. 2013
To accelerate requires fewer watts when using high cadence as well as the effect mentioned above.  We have mentioned the physiological advantages in the previous post.
What Dan Empfield mentions is doable but even the cycling pros are not doing the technical things needed as it was mentioned by Thomas Prehn in his book Racing Tactics for Cyclist.  What Empfield wants from Barrie Shepley is to give a more critical view of what is happening in the triathlon peloton when he is narrating the competition and not just being Mr. Nice Guy narrating; Dan wants him to be more like Prehn:
“Think!
Bicycle racing is a thinking man´s sport.  From tactics to training schedules, you succeed in this sport only with the combination of physical and mental fortitude…The reason most people don’t succeed in extracting this valuable information is because it takes a bit of effort.  Most riders are satisfied with the effort they put into pushing the pedals around.  It’s easy to sit in the pack and not really think about the race” (XViii).
Prehn wants cyclists to be able to think and he even says:
“Tactics are not unlike the psychology of sports.  It´s amazing but true.  It you survive top athletes on the difference between winning the really close one or losing it; most would say something along the lines, ‘it was mental’”(XV).
Triathlon and triathletes are different from cycling and cyclists but we still face triathletes who are not thinking and feeling enough about their race, training, and in general what they do as athletes.  We have a previous post related to this matter and what Prehn mentioned about psychology of cycling=tactics:
6 févr. 2013
Working every minute for what we need; an educational training at home and school.
"The value of a college education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think."
--New York Times, May 18, 1921; Frank 1947, 185; Brian 1966, 129, Illy, 25-32. Frank, P. 1947. Einstein: A Centenary Volume. Cambridge, Mass.; Harvard University Press.; Brian, D. 1996. Einstein: A Life. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.; Illy, J., ed. 2005, February. "Einstein Due Today." Manuscript. (Courtesy of the Einstein Papers Project, Pasadena.)
The following quotes say much about what is needed to succeed.
 "Example isn't another way to teach, it is the only way to teach." - Albert Einstein
"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." - Albert Einstein
I will give useful raw data.  Regardless of the technique and tactical problems of the triathletes riding the bike, the amount of watts produce on a flat surface has been the same for Jan Frodeno as when when he goes uphill, around 370 watts for the 40k.  Laurent Vidal produces the same amount of watts.  370 watts average is what it's needed to ride on the first peloton most of the time; reason why most of riders cannot run after the bike.  Frodeno was Olympic champion and Vidal rides in the first pack most of the time.  On the other hand, we have good triathletes who are on the border of qualifying for the Olympics as it is the case of Leonardo Chacón; his capacity to ride the 40k is 330-340 watts (FTP 345, http://www.leochacon.com/#skill-section). Obviously, he is going to walk if he stays with the first pack drafting because he is all-out riding the bike with that FTP.  Mario Mola has a higher wattage compared to Chacón (FTP), so he is able to run after drafting in one of the packs; same thing for Murray.  Mola is unable to pull the peloton; he uses drafting as his only option to reach the podium.
I give you Frodeno´s  Auckland and San Diego (2013) average watts produced during those races respectively.

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