Some might have seen this. This is short summary to what these guys get up to during stage race -------- The Setup How was the experiment conducted? ? Six T-Mobile pros were tracked throughout the 5-d, 6-stage (758 km) Regio Tour-International (UCI 2.3). Winning average speed of 41.1 km/h. ? While subject names were obviously kept confidential, all subjects had competed in at least one Grand Tour. Coupled with a mean age of 27 y, we can assume that they?re likely not neo-pros and relatively established riders. ? 24 h before the race, all riders performed a lactate threshold test in the lab to establish baseline values, including power output at lactate threshold (LT, point at which lactate values begin to rise), and power output at lactate threshold + 1 mMol (this is often used to predict the maximal sustainable power output). ? SRMs were used throughout all 5 road stages and a 13 km uphill TT, then downloaded for analysis and compared to the lab values. The Raw Numbers So what do the pros get up to in the lab? ? LT: 248 W (3.5 W/kg), HR = 137 bpm. This power output may at first appear to be quite low, but this corresponds to the effort when you?re just cruising a tiny bit above endurance pace, and this is an effort that can be sustained for hour after hour, day after day (as we?ll see below) ? LT+1: 326 W (4.6 W/kg), HR = 163 bpm. Effort was defined at 3 different intensities for both power and heart rate: Zone 1: below LT (includes coasting time) Zone 2: between LT and LT+1 Zone 3: above LT+1 What Happens on the Road? So what do the pros get up to in the peloton? ? Road stages averaged 220 W (3.1 W/kg), HR 142 bpm. With 4 of the 5 stages lasting 160-170 km, that?s nearly 4 h daily at that effort, with an average energy expenditure of 2850 Kcal in addition to normal resting requirements of ~2500 kCal for a total of 5350 Kcal daily. When looking at the relative time spent in the various power zones, we find that the road stages were predominantly (58%) done in Zone 1 (below LT), but also that a significant period of time (28%) was spent above LT+1. So while over 2 h may be spent daily in ?cruising? mode, about an hour a day was done at a pretty leg-searing effort! The Race of Truth They definitely don?t call time trials the race of truth for nothing! ? Altitude gain for the 13 km uphill TT was 450 m, and mean completion time was 23 min. ? Power averaged 392 W (5.5 W/kg), HR 169 bpm. Both values are well above the LT+1 value in the lab, so there was definitely no slacking here and a good deal of pain being dealt! ? No hiding or coasting occurred for the time trial, with over 90% of the time spent above LT+1 power! Summary The results of this study fit pretty well with what would have been predicted based on other studies in the literature on cyclists in other disciplines and durations (e.g., cyclocross, mountain bike), levels (e.g., amateurs), and terrain (e.g., mountain stages). It was also excellent in having both current lab test values matched to field data through a variety of terrain, and specifically in having power values rather than relying on indirect measures of workload like heart rate. What really stuck out for me was the split in time spent at different power zones. None of the riders were having an easy ride throughout the tour, with at least an hour daily spent at a very hard effort. It also reminds us that road racing is not just about cruising ability, but also about the ability to handle repeated hard efforts, recover, then go hard again, and that this better be incorporated into training! So there you have it, now you have benchmarks to aim for. Good luck living the dream! Reference 1. Vogt S, Heinrich L, Schumacher YO, Blum A, Roecker K, Dickhuth HH, and Schmid A. Power output during stage racing in professional road cycling. Med Sci Sports Exerc 38: 147-151, 2006.
