I‘m definitely build to be light, but never as light as some of the super climbers. Being 191cm is just not perfect for that. Then again, I can hold 350+ for an hour.
Still, I look at the big guy from my team, who can crank out 420 for an hour at 90kg and feel kinda envious of that.
Or see a short guy who is sub 60kg and feel kinda envious of that…
Or see someone who can sprint.
I wouldn’t want to switch places with anyone of these, but I think it’s easy to get into this on the other side the grass is always greener perspective.
Since a lot of these things are really pre-determined, it’s probably not desirable to chase after a certain number like „370W“ or „5Wkg“
You’re right, all of those things do have an impact on potential; and that’s why Fred Wright is an excellent cyclist but he is unlikely to put Pogacar under pressure in a grand tour.
They really don’t apply at the casual amateur 5wkg level and I think we should be trying to congratulate people who put the time in, rather than trying to undermine them by crying ‘genetics’ to cover our own failure to achieve - as is unfortunately a bit too common.
Sure, I get what you’re saying. It’s not about undermining the efforts of someone who does get to 4, or 5, or whatever w/kg.
It’s just becoming more common to see the comments along the lines of, “you’re just not working hard enough”.
Personally I think both things are true. It takes a lot of hard work to be really good at cycling, and it genuinely takes some people a lot more work/they are unlikely to achieve the same level.
Yes, that is certainly a factor. I’d say it is easier (within reason) for lighter riders to have a higher relative power. Famously, world-class sprinter Marcel Kittel had a career peak at 4.9 W/kg. Of course, he weighed 88–90 kg at the time, so his absolute power numbers were still massive. Not to speak of his sprint power
Thanks for plugging in the numbers. I’d add to that, though, that depending on your body type, you will need to work on things. E. g. if you are a lighter rider, you do well learning to get very aero. There are some successful TTers who are surprisingly petite.
