paris-nice

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I thought yesterday was an excellant stage.

 

Strong head winds, rain and cold dropped the average speed to 31 kph - pedestrian for guys of this calibre, and showed the in form and the not so"in form" teams quickly.

 

Quick-Step is definately te in-form team here, upping the pace to 60kph to catch the breakaway and leaving 90% of the peleton scattered all over the road with the second bunch (with Cadel Evans) nearly 2min back.

 

I think a lot of guys are gonna be walking / pushing up Mt Ventoux.

 

I was also impressed with Euskaltel-Euskadi, this stage didnt suit them at all, but they were always busy in the bunch, chasing down breaks, and trying a few of their own - also very "in-form" I think, and now they have got rid of all the old "dead wood" the new youngsters are really keen to race.

 

I expected more of Cunego, he missed the break and lost a bit of time, maybe he will be more competitive in the mountains, and as for "Popo" - what a class act - he just sits quietly two rows from the front and never misses a thing - he is definately my man for the overall win.

 

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ST ETIENNE, France, March 12 (Reuters) - Sylvain Chavanel seized the lead in the Paris-Nice cycling race after the 165.5-km third stage on Wednesday, raising hopes of a first French victory since 1997 in the Race to the Sun.

The Cofidis rider, seen as the unfulfilled prospect of French cycling for years, took advantage of the first serious climb in this edition, the first-category Col de la Croix-de-Chaubouret, to take the reins, with a three-second lead over Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez.

[Zoo Cookie]

hey, i saw a bit on tv yesterday afternoon, while i was waiting for the good people at hi-q to do my cars wheel alignment.

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hit a pavement?

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and ?

ROME, Sapa-AFP: Spain's Oscar Freire won the first stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico on Wednesday over 160km around Civitavecchia, edging out Italy's Alessandro Petacchi and Spain's Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil in a sprint finish.
Former world champion Freire, of Rabobank, will wear the leader's blue jersey in Thursday's second stage over 203km from from Civitavecchia to Gubbio.

[Zoo Cookie]

hit a pavement?

 

no not latley.

 

 

new tyres.

[Zoo Cookie]

while i was watching the race, i noticed on guy with a very "strange" pedaling action. they showed him a few times and at one stage it looked like his cleats were position more to the bridge/middle area of his foot instead of the front/toe area. is that possible or was it just me?  

[bruce]

while i was watching the race' date=' i noticed on guy with a very "strange" pedaling action. they showed him a few times and at one stage it looked like his cleats were position more to the bridge/middle area of his foot instead of the front/toe area. is that possible or was it just me?  [/quote']

 

There is a lot of research going into this type of cleat position.  Nothing conclusive yet though.

[Zoo Cookie]

while i was watching the race' date=' i noticed on guy with a very "strange" pedaling action. they showed him a few times and at one stage it looked like his cleats were position more to the bridge/middle area of his foot instead of the front/toe area. is that possible or was it just me?  [/quote']

 

There is a lot of research going into this type of cleat position.  Nothing conclusive yet though.

 

it looked very uncomfortable to me. but maybe it's because i tend to press my toes downwards, when padaling.

[Tumbleweed]

while i was watching the race' date=' i noticed on guy with a very "strange" pedaling action. they showed him a few times and at one stage it looked like his cleats were position more to the bridge/middle area of his foot instead of the front/toe area. is that possible or was it just me?  [/quote']

 

There is a lot of research going into this type of cleat position.  Nothing conclusive yet though.

 

what's the reasoning behind it?

[bruce]

while i was watching the race' date=' i noticed on guy with a very "strange" pedaling action. they showed him a few times and at one stage it looked like his cleats were position more to the bridge/middle area of his foot instead of the front/toe area. is that possible or was it just me?  [/quote']

 

There is a lot of research going into this type of cleat position.  Nothing conclusive yet though.

 

what's the reasoning behind it?

 

It is an attempt to improve pedalling efficiency.  Some abstracts to the research can be found at:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2625415?dopt=AbstractPlus

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16901493?dopt=AbstractPlus

 

Here is an alternate view (cut 'n paste) because it was posted on a closed forum so I can't post the link:

 

BioMechanics
November 2006

Researchers target cleats, fatigue to improve cycling performance
By: Jordana Bieze Foster

If it prevents a cyclist from maximizing the transfer of power from
foot to pedal, it is the cyclist's enemy. Research presented in
September at the annual meeting of the American Society of
Biomechanics, however, suggests that sport science may be closing in on
those enemy ranks.

The inability to generate power during the recovery phase (from 6
o'clock to 12 o'clock) of the crank cycle is one critical obstacle
standing between the cyclist and the goal of 100% pedaling efficiency,
or maintaining power transfer throughout the entire cycle. Researchers
from Ball State University, however, believe that repositioning cycling
shoe cleats can alter foot and ankle kinematics to improve power
output, produce a smoother stroke, and increase pedaling efficiency.

The investigators analyzed 10 competitive male cyclists under two cleat
placement conditions: the conventional placement with cleats under the
forefoot, and an experimental condition with cleats positioned under
the heel. They found that the heel cleat position was associated with a
significant increase in pedaling efficiency (77% versus 73.4% for the
toe position), which is likely a result of significant changes in ankle
kinematics. Most notably, the mean ankle angles during the last 90
degrees of recovery and the first 90 degrees of the power phase were
significantly lower with cleats in the heel position than the toe
position (see table); this meant that ankle angles in those two cycle
quadrants were closer in magnitude to the angles in the other two
quadrants, resulting in a smoother overall stroke.

"So much of cycling is about equipment. This is a way we may be able to
increase performance by involving more of the human component of
cycling," said Jeff W. Frame, a former graduate student in the
university's Biomechanics Laboratory, who presented his group's
findings at the ASB meeting. "In the heel position, it's much easier to
pull up on the backstroke, which is what cyclists try to do to improve
efficiency."

Peak power output did not differ significantly between the two cleat
positions, but the researchers believe this may be because the study
subjects only had 15 minutes to familiarize themselves with the new
cleat position, Frame said.

Along with loss of power transfer, fatigue can also affect pedaling
efficiency. Elite cyclists compensate for the effects of fatigue by
making kinematic adjustments that allow them to maintain power output,
according to findings from the University of Texas in Austin.

Researchers assessed lower extremity joint angles and trunk lean in 10
elite male cyclists who pedaled to exhaustion on a cycle ergometer set
at a workload equivalent to each subject's maximum oxygen consumption.
They found that the only change in range of motion that occurred
following the onset of fatigue was increased trunk flexion angle, which
may represent an effort to maintain power output by increasing the
stretch response of the hip extensors.

"The angles that are least constrained are the ones that changed the
most," said Jason E. Joubert, a graduate student in the university's
kinesiology department, who presented his group's findings at the ASB
meeting.

Ankle angles also tended to decrease with fatigue, but the range of
ankle motion was varied, increasing with fatigue in some subjects but
decreasing in others. Shifts in trunk motion varied between subjects as
well but ultimately shifted toward the aforementioned positive trend.

"As fatigue set in, we saw a lot of shifting," Joubert said.

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thank you.

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nice win for cadel evans yesterday. anyone watch it yeasterday. only saw brief highlights in the pub last night. how far did voight break for?