Jordan to have such an expert make a comment about Lionel is greatly appreciated by those of us who have been supporting his career. You are also correct what an incredible 2:07 ride for the 90k on that Syracuse Bike Course. The quality of 70.3 racing is only going to get more exciting as strength athletes like Lionel get further entrenched into the 70.3 racing, and pure-speed athletes like Javier, Alistair, Jan, Bevan, Nicola come into the racing as well. People have asked about Lionel's 2014/2015 plans and we are looking at a "learning" Ironman sometime later this year. 2015 will definitely be a 70.3 and Ironman year as he continues to improve in all three sports. I anticipate that great bikes by Andrew Yoder and runs by Lionel Sanders will only require everyone in the sport to bring their individual games up another notch. ITU saw it when Whitfield came along. Then when Javier came along, and now with the Brownlees. I think that 70.3 will go through a similar realignment where top bikes and runs will be expected and everyone will have to find another 2-5% in their game to have a chance to win or be on the podium. A very exciting time to be involved in the sport.

The 'Cuse course is the hardest run course I have ever done. It's not so much the overall gain but, as you point out, it's where the gain comes. 80% of the gain comes from one hill (done 2x). It's a mile up and a mile down (done 2x) of pure suck. It's getting a heck of a reputation like St. George, Quassy or Muskoka for it's run difficulty.

It's funny when I hear people talking about how hard/hilly the 70.3 run is at Austin or Boulder or whatever... and not that they're flat but the 'Cuse course is just brutal in comparison. The last time I did Syracuse was the first year this run course was in place (2012). That hill just killed me.

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

You'll need a slow motion camera.

---

Duathlete by choice?

Barry, do you know something about Nicola's plans for the future that we don't? I thought she always said that she didn't like/want to go long (apart from the occasional 70.3)?

Does anyone know what Lionel's FTP is? I would assume 300 watts is about 80-85% for him. I'd love to incorporate this brick into my workouts. Intense!

I saw a reference of Lionel as being 5'10" 160... but i bet he really races closer to 155-158. I've discovered that some of these run specialists in the sub 70kg range are sometimes extremely aero due to the size, good position and equipment. Meaning his FTP might "only" be 315W and for a 2:16, he may have strategically rode 84-85% at just 265 Watts and guaranteed a good run.

My point being that's it's easier to guess at power of a larger, taller rider, but harder with a run specialist.

My point being that without knowing his Cda... his wattage doesn't really matter all that much.

---

TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

Lionel posts quite a bit of his data on his blog, especially during this past offseason when he was getting used to his Computrainer. You can find it here. You might have to sift back to when he was posting more of his data.

After watching him burst onto the scene like this, and knowing how goal-oriented he is, I can't wait to see how quickly his swim and bike progress. In University I lived in the same house and shared a floor/ceiling with him the year he decided to re-learn how to play the drums. After training for 3 or 4 hours, he would sit down at his drum kit in the basement, sometimes around 8 or 9pm, and play for 5 or 6 hours straight trying to master it. For the whole school year. It used to piss me off...but now I have a story to tell my future kids ;). Since then I have learned to have full confidence that this guy will not stop until he is the best in the world.

or...or....he may have ridden on the back of motorcycle into T2
Do we have any eye witnesses in Syracuse who actually saw the Colonel ride into T2 and dismount from a tribike??


:)




.

He does share a lot of power info in his blogs, an estimate of 315W might be low by 100 watts or more...

From his blog
"As I spoke about in a previous post, I held 430w for 20 minutes by myself, in the privacy of my training room, over a month ago. So I was quite confident that if the bikes were even remotely accurate, I would be able to do this again (seeing as the bike was only 15 minutes in duration). Initially, Barrie Shepley sent out the points system to a few of us for review, and the 1000 pt standard i.e. the highest you could possibly score, was 420 watts. I sent him a message telling him I’m pretty certain I can hold more than that, and so he reset the highest standard as 450 watts."

If that's the case, then given his size/weight, he needs to work on his bike and position a little I think.... or he's riding at 80% and now we really know how he can do a 1:09. Not to take away form that. He might be on to something. He's giving up maybe 3 minutes on the bike to run 4 minutes faster. That's low risk for him since he's already well behind the lead pack out of the water, so the best strategy, like for most run specialists, is to go for the best time overall and not chase splits or try and catch the field on the bike. (ie, Rinny at Kona).

---

TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

He had the fastest bike split at Muskoka 70.3 last year, and also ran a crazy fast run time. It's only a matter of time before he puts it all together in a real big race - maybe Tremblant in September will be his coming out party.

---

Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NateThomasTri
Coaching: https://bybtricoaching.com/ - accepting athletes for 2023

I think he rides (or did until recently) a Louis Garneau frame. Not sure how significant the difference between this bike and the super bikes would be, but I'm sure there are some gains for him to be had upgrading to a better bike.

---

NCCP certified Comp coach

Good point!
Are the folks at Cervelo living under a rock !!..Step up and put the Colonel on a P5 already!!



.

Good god.

---

Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

I was in the women's pro race, and I got to see Lionel run by as I was starting on my first loop...he was flying! He made me look like I was walking, and I thought I was running pretty well (I had the second fastest women's run and even passed Rapp on my first loop)...while the run course was hilly and contained slow grass sections, it was a tad short, I think I had it at 13.0 on my Garmin. At any rate, that is a sick run. Great to see a fellow Canadian tearing it up!

---

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” – Steve Prefontaine | http://www.kirstyjahntriathlon.com | twitter: @kirstyjahntri

Likewise Cody is riding his own P2! - A tricked out one at that, but come on bike manufacturers step up! :)

not sure there is a big difference between a P2 and LG but for sure Cervelo do not have other sponsorships to offer in bike shoes, clothing etc...i don't obviously know Lionel's contracts etc. but I suspect some bundling of product going on.

To me travelling with bikes is always a concern so not sure, per some other posts if a tricked out P5 is worth it with the packing and unpacking & hydraulic brakes, front end nose cones, back brakes tucked away or even horizontal dropouts is worth the potential stress of last minute fixes at race site. That's just me though. I suck as a wrench. Like, suck! My P3 horizontal drop out screws stripped day i was leaving for IMC one year. That was a hectic trip and some serious wrenching at my LBS. Consequence is the screw is permanently in place now. Just my opinion but sometimes these marginal gains are in fact tipping into impending disaster. Even Yoder at Syracuse with his Di2 battery, completely his fault not charging, but there you go....forgot to charge and rode race on small ring.

anyway, back to point of thread...Lionel... i really look forward to watching his progress professionally and personally. He is all class and really represents to me, what CAN a person do. He has serious talent and is applying it. Go after it mate!

---

@rhyspencer

Great run Kirsty and not to piss on your parade ...you may have passed Rapp but he ran 1:23 to your 1:25:) I would restructure that comment:)


.

Shady, I'm well aware my split was slower, he was just dying bad on the second loop, so I did actually pass him on the hills and stayed ahead of him while I was on my first loop and he was finishing....my main point was that I was just shocked to see Lionel running that fast, it was quite remarkable...but thanks for clarifying.

---

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” – Steve Prefontaine | http://www.kirstyjahntriathlon.com | twitter: @kirstyjahntri

Kristy I just wanted to say thanks for posting here, congrats on your race and way to crush a brutal run course!!!

---

************************
#WeAreTheForge #BlackGunsMatter

"Look, will you guys at leats accept that you are a bunch of dumb asses and just trust me on this one? Please?" BarryP 7/30/2012

  
5.9 w/kg?? ... according to 'the chart' he should be racing pro cycling.

For those following this post and would like to follow his career more closely, check out his blog and his Syracuse race report. If you're looking for more examples of what a straight shooting and humble personality this guy is, I think this quote from his recap is awesome.


http://lsanderstri.com/...6/25/syracuse-recap/

---

__________________________
Matt Gervais

Oh totally, but at the level that Cody and him are punching at now, even LG needs to step up. They have a newer frame out there and I'm sure it is faster. The current frame is no brick, but over the distances he is racing I'm sure there are significant (at the pro level) gains to be had. That being said, he is very new to the game, and he needs to buff out his resume a bit more before the big companies will be knocking at his door.

It may also be advantagious for him to wait a bit and stack up a few more solid results and then he will be able to demand more when the time to wheel and deal comes.

Interesting to see what happens. If LG is smart they lock him up good and solid if they can.

Cody, on the other hand is allready on a WC frame! (good ol chrisie). Likewise, it might be better for him to rack up some results before locking into the sponsorship game.

---

NCCP certified Comp coach

I didn't think the new LG Gennix TR1 looked that bad (if that is what he is on).

no, that frame looks pretty slick. Last I saw he was on the previous frame. (see the top of his blog)

---

NCCP certified Comp coach