It’s ironic he would go to Tucson during the winter when he spent all last summer on the trainer and treadmill.
Should be a fun year to watch him; Oceanside, IMTX, Roth, Kona.
http://youtu.be/cuDykOELcMI
I received a call from Barrie Shepley a few weeks ago, letting me know Lionel Sanders is on the way down and to see if I could arrange some times to ride.
Fortunately, I had a bike crash a few days before he arrived. The talk had been about helping him set his record up Lemmon (26mi climb starts at 2900ish ft-8300ish ft) The reason why I use “fortunate,” is due to the speed he rode up the mountain…and on a tri bike!
Sanders rolls down from snowy Canada, only have ridden on the road zero times this winter. Putting on a helmet was probably odd for him, as I assume he does not use one on the trainer. He arrives at the Tucson airport on 27th of Feb at 11:30am. By 2pm, he is under way for his first assault on Lemmon. He crushes the mtn, riding times the wintering pro cyclists (climbing specialists) do not achieve. He does it again on March 1st. The only data I have is power and have no clue what he weighs. He was around 355w for 1:40…not forgetting he was in thin air. Again, no idea on his weight.
It makes no sense for me to write all of his splits down, as they are irrelevant to you. There are plenty of bad ass triathletes who have come to Tucson to train in the cold months, including Kienle, Tollakson, Twelsiek and company. No disrespect to those guys, but I have never had the fear of a full gas ride with them. Lionel Sanders has me wide awake at 5am wondering how I am going to get out of the next invite as the earlier bike crash is wearing off.
Honestly, this guy is just like that TYR wetsuit. I can’t wait to see him run this week, then see what he does this year. I am a believer and I have yet to shake his hand. After watching Jan Frodeno’s performance with flat tire, penalty etc…I thought Sebastian should put him on his dart board. Sebastian needs to get a second dart board. Will be fun watching in 2015. Place your bets.
PT
Haven’t I been preaching this story to you since Sept? 
Is there a strava segment for the whole climb? Do you have a link? Just curious.
I get that the guy is an amazing athlete and I get that it will be exciting to watch him this year but two questions come to mind from the perspective of arm chair QB:
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why do we feel the need to call him the real deal? If he were the real deal, it would be self-evident.
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if he were the real deal, why wasn’t he pulling down a million bucks at Challenge Dubai? To me, someone who is the real deal would have been at that race.
Guarantee the winner doesn’t bike under 2:20. Lawl.
i truly don’t understand why he wouldn’t switch to bike racing … much better money.
I get that the guy is an amazing athlete and I get that it will be exciting to watch him this year but two questions come to mind from the perspective of arm chair QB:
-
why do we feel the need to call him the real deal? If he were the real deal, it would be self-evident.
-
if he were the real deal, why wasn’t he pulling down a million bucks at Challenge Dubai? To me, someone who is the real deal would have been at that race.
Maybe he felt like he had the swim, bike and run capabilities but not the map reading skills just yet…
bike racing is not a healthy sport.
i truly don’t understand why he wouldn’t switch to bike racing … much better money.
Is there a strava segment for the whole climb? Do you have a link? Just curious.
I get that the guy is an amazing athlete and I get that it will be exciting to watch him this year but two questions come to mind from the perspective of arm chair QB:
-
why do we feel the need to call him the real deal? If he were the real deal, it would be self-evident.
-
if he were the real deal, why wasn’t he pulling down a million bucks at Challenge Dubai? To me, someone who is the real deal would have been at that race.
Maybe he felt like he had the swim, bike and run capabilities but not the map reading skills just yet…
he could have landed at 6am in Dubai and by 7:15 be cranking out 355 watts for 1h45 and then be back home in AZ by dinner.
Having had the luxury of the full weekend as his coach, I would like to add a few notes in on the Lionel Sander Thread. First off, I was honoured all last week to have Paul Thomas work with my young university athletes. His bike and run knowledge is incredible and the athletes in my camp learned much from the Tucson pro biker (former top University runner).
Lionel has had an interesting last 16 months. His first major win in Muskoka 70.3 in Sept of 2013 put him on the map (sort of). He worked hard all last year, spent the winter in Tucson and got schooled a few times early when he was just learning how to race in BIG events. After Utah, he wondered if he should even be trying to be a pro, when he was a non-factor. By mid-summer, finally on his new Louis Garneau Time Trial Bike, he started to ride some very fast times (near 2hrs and even breaking 2hrs in a half Ironman 90km ride). His swims were weak and his runs were often incredible with some 69 min runs off the bike. Likely his highlight was the 4th place at 70.3 Worlds behind 3 legends and the day’s fastest bike+run split.
The year was capped off with a bitter sweet day in Florida. Sweet with the win by nearly 20 minutes over some great athletes. Bitter because the cancelled swim meant that some would question his Ironman talents as a weaker swimmer. Although biased, I have no doubt he would have been under 8hrs in his pro debut (likely 7:55-56 on what was a windy day).
We were very lucky in the off-season to secure some world-class partners to be a part of Lionel’s journey. Louis Garneau has believed in him since the begining and are excited they are a big part of his future. Skechers Performance Shoes have come on, and Lionel is loving their equipment. A great healthy food restaurant chain called Freshii, has many USA outlets but was started in Toronto has really gotten behind Lionel and will be helping him in many ways (not just financially). Computrainer, Nineteen Wetsuits and numerous other partners have stayed involved from 2014. He is very appreciative of the support he has gotten.
Lionel moved back to Windsor Ontario (just 20min from where he grew up in Harrow Ontario) and with his new fiance has started a great situation in Windsor. A terrific swim coach is now working wit him and he is moving in the right direction on his swimming. No world-records, but he has improved every single month and finally feels like he is understanding what swimming is (not just thrashing about). We expect improvement for the next 2+ years in the water.
Lionel has done his usual hard indoor treadmill and computrainer work all winter and came to my camp in Tucson very fit. Not race ready, but healthy and fit. He got his new Louis Garneau bike on Thr and flew on Friday morning to Tucson. By 4pm we were on the side of Mt Lemmon on a very cool, windy day. I told him if he wasn’t past the 5 mile mark by 20 minutes (this is all up hill) then we were turning around and going home. True to his competitive nature, he went through 5 miles on his fastest time ever (18 min59 seconds) and continued to ride through very windy conditions to the top of the Ski Hill on Mt Lemmon 26+ miles away. His best time ever had been 1hr 42 min and on the day he rode 1hr 39 minutes and change and out rode any other time we could find. That was Friday
On Saturday he did a high quality run workout, a good swim and an easy bike with his mom (who is in town for the camp).
Sunday morning the conditions were incredible. Cool, no real wind and he decided with wind and rain expected for a few days in Tucson, that he would pound a hard effort up the mountain. Lava Magazine had their editor in the car with me. A documentary crew was filming him on a motorcycle (riding beside or behind him as he didn’t want to be accused of drafting a vehicle up the mountain).
He went through 5 miles in 18min 30 second (nearly 30 seconds faster than 2 days before) then continued to pound new PB’s all the way up the mountain. He went through Windy Point (a logcial stop off place for top pro cyclists at 14 miles up the mountain) in 53 minutes and change. I understand from local pros that this is a very very good time for those just going to Windy Point. This was essentially Lionel’s half-way point of the ride. He got to the top of the mountain in 1hr 34 minutes and 40 seconds. It was really a very emotional day for me. Cars were turning around and following him up the mountain because they knew something special was occurring. His mom and fiance were riding the mountain (we have a picture of him blowing by them at mile 8). The time of 1hr 34+ was nearly 7 minutes faster then we can find. I am sure there are other similarly amazing rides that have been done over the years, but that were not recorded or have long-since been forgotten. The magic of the day was the camera were rolling, the Lava Magazine editor was there. His mom and fiance were on the mountain.
In true Lionel humble status, he shared his day’s joy with his team-mates and family last night at a local Tucson restaurant.
Lionel has big plans this year, but we both know that the competiton is stronger than it has ever been. More countries are developing more world-class long distance athletes. We are both excited that Lionel is just one of a dozen men who are capable of winning on any given day. He knows he has lots of work to do, and he knows that endurance sport has more DOWNS than UPS. Its just the nature of endurnace racing. Yesterday was one of those UP days. For me, sitting in the van, watching him for 90+ minutes, it was a very powerful - enjoyable experience. Knowing where he was 5 years ago and knowing where he is today.
Barrie Shepley
Voice of the ITU Triathlons and very proud coach today
wtf does that mean? would you say thatiron distance races are healthy?
cycling, as a sport, and as a culture, is not healthy.
And as a concerned citizen and fan of LS’s progression, with cycling being a real sport, only the talented make it to the top. The rest are just fodder for the gristmill. I wouldn’t wish that amount of suffering on anyone. Finally, I’m sort of saying that while impressive in Triathlon, LS would be run of the mill in cycling.
wtf does that mean? would you say thatiron distance races are healthy?
ah ok … i can agree with your view, though i think he’d be better than run of the mill.
neither is ironman!
bike racing is not a healthy sport.
i truly don’t understand why he wouldn’t switch to bike racing … much better money.
ah ok … i can agree with your view, though i think he’d be better than run of the mill.
well, pretty simple to get an idea.
what are his watts/kg for ~60 minutes, and 5 seconds and 1 minute?
heh
neither is ironman!
bike racing is not a healthy sport.
i truly don’t understand why he wouldn’t switch to bike racing … much better money.
From a doping perspective?
I’m talking the culture the sport, not the effects on the body of the activity. Triathlon, for all its warts, is a pretty positive place to be.
neither is ironman!
bike racing is not a healthy sport.
i truly don’t understand why he wouldn’t switch to bike racing … much better money.
From a doping perspective?
No idea how the two compare there, currently.
Guarantee the winner doesn’t bike under 2:20. Lawl.
Although, you’d have to admit that popping out a 2:20 bike could at least put you in position for a Kona podium, no matter how crappy your swim or run went.