MvdP powerdata last 800 meters of the Amstel Gold Race

Nice summary here: Power analysis: Mathieu van der Poel's insane Amstel Gold - CyclingTips

1 Like

He did great. But don’t forget that this was all possible because of idiotic racing in the front. It’s as much a choke job as it is a heroic effort.

1 Like

and another: Mathieu van der Poel shares incredible data from Amstel Gold Race on Strava | Cycling Weekly

Exactly. I can live at 100-115 all day… However, I can guarantee you I’m not going 36-41 MPH. :flushed:

Absolutely unreal numbers, and I loved the cyclingtips link above. I’m struck by something that the specialized guys said in their recent podcast: ā€œpros are never kilojoule-constrainedā€. He (Chris Yu? or one of the specialized guys) was justifying the use of a lightweight bike because the advantage in the decisive climb matters way more than saving energy early on with an aero bike. (I know MVPD was on the aeroad, that’s neither here nor there for my point).

Point is, I don’t think I really understood the implications of that until this analysis - MVDP was able to do insane maximal efforts after 6 hours of not-that-chill riding. Said another way, the strain of going at a moderate pace for hours in the early goings of a race basically doesn’t have an effect on pros. Having that kind of aerobic fitness and muscular endurance is mind boggling.

But did get there with Polarized or Non-polarized training? That is the Crux. :slightly_smiling_face:

4 Likes

There isn’t a spike that last 8k either. Everyone keeps talking about how he bridged then sprinted but I think he just rode steady - picked it up one notch and that was that.

Considering CX is 99% Z5, but only 1hr long…I’d say Polarized.

It’s the newest training fad, it’s 20:80!

1 Like

Ha! That’s funny…only because it’ll probably pop up sooner or later. :man_facepalming:

What astounds me the most when I look at this data is the 2nd 30mins of the race. His heart rate is in the 80s and 90s! It’s like he is laying on the couch. In fact, a sub-100 heart rate is achieved quite often in the first 2 thirds of the race…is that common?

Common, esp for a young, generically gifted athlete who’s conserving energy by sucking wheels. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

The idiotic racing in the front let MVDP back into the game, but he still had to do those numbers all by himself, no other racers ā€œmade him doā€ those numbers, he did them… that is what is so impressive.

I agree. His ride was total badass.
I’m just saying that if Fuglsang and Alaphilippe hadn’t taken their foot off the gas, nobody would care or talk about the power profile of the 4th place guy.

Which makes me wonder how many badass profiles we’ve never seen. Someone who pulls a GC contender to the last 10k in the front and bonks for example. I bet there are a lot of them. I would love to see Froome’s power file from stage 17 of the Giro from last year.

I’d be willing to bet there are a lot of domestiques with really amazing race power files that we never, ever see.

1 Like

That number is meaningless in a vacuum. Some people have a maxHR of 150 and they are in threshold at 130. I know a couple people like that. I bet his max is on the low side.

His max HR in this effort was 197.

:flushed:

GCN’s J.Travolta hit 200 doing Alpe du Zwift.

1 Like

If you read the article, he sat in the peloton for a good portion there so was probably close to his z1 power under 200 watts…