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news
Chris Froome with Giro d'Italia trophy (picture LaPresse).jpgTake a look at Chris Froome's Giro d'Italia power data
Chris Froome’s attack on the Colle delle Finestre last Friday, which would pave the way to his overall victory at the Giro d’Italia, saw him average 397 watts on the final 3 kilometres of the climb.
Figures released by Velon, the joint venture set up by a number of UCI WorldTour teams including Team Sky, show that on the final part of the climb after attacking his rivals, the 33-year-old maintained a cadence of 95rpm as he rode up an average gradient of 9.3 per cent.
The move came with 80 kilometres remaining of Stage 19 and on the 11.2 kilometre descent, where he put around a minute into his rivals, Froome had an average speed of 53 kilometres an hour, topping 80 kilometres an hour at one point.
Froome was one of 144 riders taking part in the race whose power output, speed, heart rate and cadence were tracked throughout the three weeks and Velon has now brought together details of the Team Sky rider’s Giro d’Italia here.
Besides last Friday when he stormed into the race lead with that solo attack, Stage 14 and its summit finish on the Zoncolan also stand out – and Froome’s win there can be seen in the context of the overall victory, rather than a potential consolation prize after a difficult opening fortnight that saw him crash twice.
His attack from 1.3 kilometres out on the Zoncolan saw him average 465 watts as he tackled the 15.4 per cent gradient at an average speed of 12.4 kilometres an hour.
On Saturday’s Stage 20, Froome was defending the Maglia Rosa, holding a 40-second lead from Team Sunweb’s Tom Dumoulin, winner of last year’s Giro d’Italia.
The final climb to Cervinia saw him have to respond to a series of attacks from the Dutchman.
Velon says that in one part of the climb lasting a little over 9 minutes and with an average gradient of 8.8 per cent, Froome had an average power output of 420 watts – he hit 760 watts at some point – and an average speed of 21 kilometres an hour.
The final stage on Sunday saw the riders at the top of the overall standings ride round Rome at a sedate pace, with safety concerns leading organisers to take the final time for the general classification after just three of the 10 laps had been completed.
Froome rolled across the line with his Team Sky colleagues more than a quarter of an hour after the sprinters had battled for the stage win and had ample time to take in the sights and savour his victory – reflected in an average power output of just 100 watts in the closing 2.5 kilometres.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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I guess with Froome (as well as most of the pros) the numbers he's producing while fairly high and sustained/repeated, they also weigh a good 10-25% less than even most of the lightest of club riders. They produce a lot of power with actually a relatively low amount of muscle. On the few occasions I've seen Alex Dowsett out riding around the area I live I'm always surprised by how slim he looks (as well as how bloody fast he's going) he's hardly a lightweight climber type but he still looks super lean.
Riding in the pack is significantly easier, I've ridden in biggish groups on a few occasions and my HR was 125-140, soon as I had to ride on the front to do my turn it shot upto 170
Riding in the pack is significantly easier, I've ridden in biggish groups on a few occasions and my HR was 125-140, soon as I had to ride on the front to do my turn it shot upto 170
It would be interesting to compare Froome/Dumoulin and Pinot on that stage 19. Froome out ahead, Dumoulin being forced to do more than his far share in the chase. I wonder how far ahead froome was on power
Cyclist article quotes Dumoulin's on Finisterre as within a couple of watts for Froome on the climb. Also suggests he made most time on the descent...
Not much between them apparently, only about 10w I think.
Difference was timing, weight and descent.
I suspect I put out around 300 watts for 25 mins during a time trial and I could barely stand up afterwards!
Its the average speeds that get me... typical stages are 38-40 kmh, every day for 3 weeks... try doing that on a flat road for even 15 mins on a road bike, let alone over mountains...
It is their ability to recover and go again and again. The numbers aren't off the planet, like superhuman, we all have probably hit similar number for short periods. I know I have but I can't repeat consecutive days or within a longer single ride.
Ryan Mullen said after the stage:
"Today I did 300 watts average for 6 hours to finish 45 minutes behind the winner."
300 watts average... for SIX HOURS, and still miles behind the front of the race.
On the 19th stage of possibly the toughest grand tour in, well, a long time. All the teams are saying that it was relentless, from the transfers to the fast (sometimes uphill) starts and the length of time it took for the break to be allowed to go.
It's when you see that sort of data you realise these aren't humans like the rest of us. I remember holding about 450 up a climb for about 2 minutes and it ruining the rest of my (short) ride as I was then totally knackered. Never mind 180km of it day in day out.
Hasn't Indurain got the most ludicrous power average of all the tour winners? Some estimated it at 450w all day every day on the tour?
Or, on the flip side, it makes you realise they are human. None of these numbers are huge. I'm 50, and 2 years ago I held 375W up a local climb for 25 mins. I'm not nearly elite, and I won't be close to Froome as I weigh nearly 30% more than he does, but none of these figures are off the charts. 500W for 3 minutes up another local climb is do-able as well. However, not at the end of a 200k stage. If anything I'm surprised at how 'low' these numbers are. As a W/kg mark they're pretty normal for an elite rider (around the 6W/kg)
Indurain had an FTP of about 550W, but never held "450W all day everyday". You'd be surprised at how 'Easy' (all things being relative) it is as a protected rider in a large bunch. During the mid parts of some stages they will have an average HR of 120 or so. By contrast the guys driving away on the front of the bunch (Sam Bewley posted 318 W average for 4 hours on one stage) or who are dying at the back of the bunch, are working considerably harder.
*Edit
How much easier for a protected rider:
Sam Bewley Time: 35'42" | Speed: 50.8km/h | Top speed: 60.2km/h | Cadence: 92rpm | Power: 320W (Normalised: 350W) | Max power: 1010W
Simon Yates for the same part of the race:
Simon Yates (Mitchelton-SCOTT): Time: 47’52” | Speed: 48.2km/h | Top speed: 67.2km/h | Cadence: 91rpm | Power: 230W | Max power: 720W
Most readers of this page could match Yates' power figures there, few of them could match Bewley's.