Pro-cycling thread

It was his crushing defeat at my hands in SSWC '03 that turned him to a road rider from MTB.

You can thank me later, Cadel...

^^
http://youtu.be/xN1WN0YMWZU

whoa. Roger Kluge escapes being forked

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py_7pYVF664

Sam Dumoulin hit 78kph in the TDU sprint today, accordibg to Twitter. That is quite quick isn't it? I think I've once seen 60 sprinting but may have been downhill/tailwind.

Is that how fast the pros reach in a sprint generally?

When they're blatting along at 50kph on the flat, I can at least tell myself I could hold on for 20 seconds.

No. Must've been downhill or tailwind.

yes. I can hit 60 if I hide well enough during the run-up, and I'm not the sprinter type let alone young & talented enough to race. so pure sprinters Cav, Kittel and the likes are way above that. I'm guessing 70 - 75 is quite normal for flat bunch sprints.

this is Koen de Kort's data for Vuelta a Espana 2014 stage 2. He's the last or second to last lead out man launching the sprinter and hits 68 km/h before starting to freewheel;
http://www.strava.com/activities/184808896/analysis

No.

The question was "Is that how fast the pros reach in a sprint generally?"

Go have a look at the sprint finish speeds and see how many are 78kph, then come back and tell me it's 'generally' the case.

'Generally' sprint stages are finished on a slight uphill to slow the riders down a bit.

We decided to include in our study only competitions in which the cyclists finished in the top five (Ross: makes sense – you want to know what success looks like, not the aborted sprints, though this would be of interest separately).

The sprint peak power output was 1248±122 W (range: 989-1443 W), and the average power was 1020±77 W (865-1140 W) for a duration of 13±2 s (9.0-17.0 s). These data fall within the range of previously published data where, for example, a peak power of 1097 W and 1370±51 W were reported for won sprints. The peak speed reached during the sprints was 66.1±3.4 (57.1-70.6), slightly lower than the expected; however, the speed data were in agreement with previously published data (J Martin 2007, Menaspa 2013).

Further reading: http://sportsscientists.com/2014/07/profile-sprint-take-win-sprint-stage/

generally, the first ones to cross the line will hit over 70 in bunch sprints more often than not. I did not say it was generally 78.

You must have been answering 'yes' to "That is quite quick isn't it?"

:-) that's what I always think when I see a good bunch sprint

conducting a little investigation, will get back to this if the results are to my liking. if not I'll shut up about anyting concerning sprinting speed in bike races

I would say that it's pretty unusual that they hit those speeds, despite having the gearing to achieve it. Amazing how many sprinters chose the 53 x 11 to start their sprint - ridiculously big gear!

Really interesting - thanks. I'd love to know how many watts Kittel is putting out at his peak.

@peter_v ...and again from another angle:

https://vine.co/v/OII61OXQen6

Ouch.

Incidentally, I expect Marcel Kittel, who has dominated the two contested sprints in the 2014 Tour, to produce higher absolute numbers than the numbers for sprinters shown above, purely because of his size (82kg on the Tour website profile), and so at 18W/kg, he would be pushing 1476W.

Right there for you. I know that Greipel's peak power is north of 1500w - though not sure if that's a number from a max power test or standing start, rather than in-race.

that's a well kept secret

Quelle surprise, Landis has an opinion on LeMond's views on Armstrong;

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/landis-lemonds-anti-doping-stance-on-lance-armstrong-lacks-consistency

But totally worth bearing with it to the end for this;

"In light of all of this, the comments from Greg, Armstrong, Leinders and Zorzoli, it's not surprising that virtually all legitimate sponsors have fled the sport. It is now financed primarily by bored wealthy men who need a reason to give their wives about why they spend so much time with young leg-shaving men in tight pants.”

Richie well done

Dennis has got 2 seconds on him in the GC. Are there bonus seconds for the KOM points?

Fairly sure its a flat finish tomorrow but are there bonus seconds for the climbs along the way?

Hard to see Porte being allowed to take them either way.

It's a crit tomorrow, so not sure if there any KoM points on offer. There will be bonus seconds available at a sprint or two though, plus the finish.

Oh well - that's the end of that then.

Things start to get tasty from next month. Tours of Oman and Qatar aren't much to get excited about but the Quintana, Froome and Contador all lining up for Ruta de Sol...

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2015/01/2015-vuelta-a-andalucia-ruta-ciclista-del-sol-startlist/

Eurosport schedule here...

https://twitter.com/TourDeJose/status/557264250692186112

I AM EXCITE.

I'm pretty sure when they talk of 'peak' power. They're talking about 10 second power. 10 seconds is a fecking long time to be pushing 1500w.

Plus they've ridden 120km or so at blistering pace to get there.

I remember big Thor saying 'Sometimes you stand up and there simply isnt anything left'.

It must feel pretty stressful sitting on the back of a lead out train at 50kph. Watching your team mates burying themselve one by one. Wondering if there is a decent sprint left in your legs after the day in the saddle. Well, I'd mad stressed. I guess these guys are a little cooler.

Peak is normally 5s power no?

Very very difficult to produce peak when jumping in a sprint where you've already been doing 55km/h for the previous 15km or more, even if you're drafting. Kierin riders produce big numbers after motorpacing but probably not what they would produce making a big jump from a slow pace in a match sprint.

I would imagine if there was a bigger jump in speed, or if the sprint was uphill it might be easier to get nearer your peak.

Cavendish wins the final stage of the Tour de San Luis. Which is either proof that he's back to his best, or past it and reduced to winning chippers.