Awesome. That is some speed.

Must have been a hella strong tailwind. Track sprinters "only" reach ~77kph.

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"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
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Agreed. It helps to have a few more gears in those cases. Track sprinters can only choose one...


Louis

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Its not the gears per se, it's the power.

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"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

anyways, 82 kph on the flat is hard to believe when you consider aerodynamics. I saw a pic of Cancellara's SRM PCVII maxs during that stage where he supposedly reached 82 kph on the flat. He actually had 108kph max speed, so maybe his 82 kph was on a flat stretch right after a descent...

Otherwise, I am very skeptical about this assumption.

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Well, I know Tapeworm. Sorry for my limited vocabulary in english. But what I meant was a track sprinter can choose a gear multiple, he'll be stuck with different conditions than a road cyclist. For example, if he/she has an event on an outdoor track with a 20-30 miles/hour wind, he'll never benefit from it 100% (unless it's a 400m track, does that exist ? BTW I miss the old 170m Olympic track in Montréal!!), since half of the event will be with a headwind...?

Louis

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Another bit of of information to complete the puzzle

http://bloodsweatandtyres.blogspot.com/2010/02/alex-dowsett-tour-of-qatar-2010-stage_7213.html

Alex Dowsett is with Sky I believe. I don't personally know him, though and I'd say he has no reason to embelish or overstate when he says "the top speed on the flat was 72kph"...

Bye,

Seamus

That would still take something like a 53x11 at 116 rpm. That is considered a fast sprint. Not something sustainable IMO for more then a few hundred yards

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WW Velocipedist Gargantuan

Your're probably right Rustychain, but there was very high tail winds pushing the peleton along in Qatar, so holding it for longer should be feasible. Apparently, stage 1 of the tour of Quatar this year, the first 55Km were done in 1 hr....

It makes Merckx's hour record record in '72 all the more amazing for me...

Seamus

If you have to ask...

Bingo.

I do rides with a bunch (when I'm not racing) of lads for a good chat and easy km's on a Sunday and there's one 20-something chap in there who asked what our average speed for the race the day before was. I told him (was something very uninspiring of 39 or 40km/h) and he was quite dismissive. Claiming he holds 36km/h quite well on rides by himself.

Interesting thought I, especially when we come to one of the only 'hills' in the ride and the old fellas give it some stick he's out the arse.

So like Naisan said, if you want a good idea of how high you really can piss strap a number to your back and get out there. If you think however you're going to Cancellara guys off your wheel then you might have a lesson or two coming...


If not, PM and and I'll take a signed jersey too! medium if you don't mind

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Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis

Average speed really has no relevance if you're trying to compare yourself with a pro.

Sure its good for the ego to tell your non-cycling friends you spent a race going at 45kph but that doesn't mention whether you had a tailwind/all downhill/no big accelerations or corners, ad infinitum...


What differentiates pro's from us mere mortals is their ability to handle huge changes of pace in races and to recover almost instantaneously.

A solo ride will never be able to tell you how you compare unless its an ITT.

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"Je pédale, donc je suis" - René Descartes (I think )

2011 Canyon Aeroad CF
2012 Canyon Ultimate Al

True dat.

I can put out way more power than Chris Boardman ever did and I can comfortably hold 57.3kph on the track like he did for breaking the 4000m WR in 1996. It's just that I can hold that pace or power for less than 45sec while he held it for 4min 11 sec. The kicker for showing just how aerobic the sport is is when he did the hour record he rode 56.3 km. Only 1kph slower riding for another 55 mins. Same bike, position and track.

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Hamish Ferguson
Cycling Coach

Go training with some pros. You may be surprised that they often ride slowly, but put a number on their back or make it into a competition and they will drop 'good' riders at will. Some examples:

I used to go for winter rides with Paul Curran (won a few UK races) sometimes. His wife used to come along too sometimes. Pace was steady for 60-80 miles and we'd stop at Suggits for tea on the way home. He had nothing to prove so I never found out how fast he could go. Most of the time his wife appeared stronger

Also took a ride round Mallorca with a couple of Spanish guys, one of which beat Boardman in the Giro prologue. Pace was 15mph, and very nice and easy. The only thing was that my now wife and I were in full summer gear, whereas he was in a long-sleeved top and 3/4 bottoms and nice and dry. Temperature 34 degrees C.

Chris Newton used to come out on the chain gang and just ride at the front at for at least half the loop at roughly 30mph. Then after wheelsucking for 15 miles you might be lucky and get round him in the sprint at the end. And that was before he took up BCF programs, structured training and world track medals.

Swiss U23 champs - did 27mph average from lap 1 including a hill with 'mountain' in the name, driven by guys in Saeco shirts fresh from the Giro. Let's just say DNF.

Ex. Mercatone Uno climber guy - Outsprinted me riding with one foot out the pedals. Humiliating.
etc...

WC RR was just a shade under 30mph average.

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