SummitAK wrote:
brasch wrote:
devashish_paul wrote:
He is listed at 180cm, 64 kilos. He may be a touch light to TT well (barely 140 lbs). The only guy I recall who could TT well at that weight was Contador, but only when he was fully jacked up on outside assistance. Richie Porte is similar weight, but smaller so he punches less of a hole in the wind. So I think your Schleck analogy is roughly correct. At some point, this becomes a BMI related physics thing. You need X kilos at Y height with Z watts to TT well. There are some physics involved with the smallest aero position for your Y height rider with X kilos and Z watts. There are physics involved with why riders like Andy Schleck, Andy Hampsten or Nario Quintana don't TT that well. Same reason we don't normally see thin lightweights winning any freestyle swim races in elite swimming. You need some mass to generate enough watts to overcome the resistance you create. Maybe physics works against Kuss on the TTing front and the same physics helps him climb.
Dont know about the weight Froome is taller, like 185cm and weighs in just a couple of kgs heavier. On the other hand, Fuglsang is same height as Froome, was a decent to good TT’er when he was heavier than now
Remco Evenepoel is a little shorter and quite a bit lighter with solid TT results. Unfortunately we won’t have a chance to see what he could have done this year:(
Hey guys....we can argue this to death but there is a finite watts per kilo a rider can produce, and less kilos means less top line watts.
But here is the simple physics. To turn a set of wheels at 50 kph takes the exact same watts whether you are Andy Hampsten, Andy Schleck, Thor Hoshovd or Fabian Cancellera. So once we subtract how many watts it takes to move the wheels around the course, the remainder is left to move the bike frame and your body. the less "remainder" watts you have after moving the wheels, the less you have to move your body and frame. This is why a 115 lbs athlete will generally TT more poorly than 230 lbs athlete. its not really rocket science. Its just simple math.
There is a reason why no pro cyclists are 115 lbs or 230 lbs and they converge in a fairly tight range, but there is a wider range in cycling than marathon running because there are more disciplines to be rewarded. Nevertheless physics is against Quintana becoming a top TTer and its against Taylor Phinney being a good climber. In the middle there are some people who are good in both (they are basically real grand tour contenders all the time vs when the parcours is selected to de emphasize TT's on purpose because the national hero won't win a TT heavy course).