Interesting article about Movistar rider Alex Dowsett and that he averaged 358 watts for his 2015 hour record. His wiki says he weighs 75 Kg, yielding an average of only 4.77 w/Kg yielding a world best of 52.937 km/hr.
What does that put his CdA at?
It also shows you how much of a brick most triathletes are on their bikes. He states in the article that he can actually ride 400 to 420 watts an hour, which seems strange to average such a pedestrian pace during hour, given his stated FTP.
Probably a trade off with his position on the bike. It’s not uncommon to trade CDA for FTP and come out ahead. Some of extreme positions just aren’t as mechanically advantageous or allow you to breathe as fully as if you were on a road bike.
He also might not have zeroed his power meter 
Track power will be lower than road power.
30 to 40 watts is an typical trade off when constricted by UCI dumb rules.
30 to 40 watts is an typical trade off when constricted by UCI “keep bike costs reasonable and make this a human, not a machine contest” rules.
Corrected that for you.
30 to 40 watts is an typical trade off when constricted by UCI “keep bike costs reasonable and make this a human, not a machine contest” rules.
Corrected that for you.
Neither of those statements are correct and they take a far too simplistic view of both adaptive physiology and aerodynamics.
Funny, I was quoting Sky for the wattage losses.
Maybe you should show them how to get their watts back?
as already stated there will be a trade off with position vs power, i would guess that Alex is pretty tuned into outputting power in the aero posiotion though as he is primarliy a TT guy.
another point, although his FTP may be over 400, and the hour record was set at significantly lower, dont over look the fact that the hour record was sandbagged, this is clear from the speeds in the last 5-10 mins,
It will be interesting to see the outcome of his next attempt which is meant to be happening at the start of 2017, although it has already been stated that they are only going out to beat the current time, and not better it significantly.
also w/kg means little here, its outright watts that matters, or rather w/cda.
Not disputing; just curious as to what motivation was to sandbag effort knowing Wiggo was going next?
team orders it seems, which makes sense, I guess they (movistar) didnt want to run the risk of over cooking early on, especially as it had already been postponed due to an accident.
What does that put his CdA at?
I’ve done a rough calculation and put it right around 0.201 m², so not *crazy *slippery, but very good for someone 6’0" tall in a UCI-position.
Assumptions (I guess I’m going to get ripped apart here!):
**Power: **358W - stated above
**Mass: **81.8 kg - 75 kg stated above + 6.8 kg bike weight
**Crr: **0.00250 - source
**Air pressure: **1.029 kg per cm² - source
Of course there are a bunch of other unaccounted factors, such as riding further than the black line, the whirlwind effect of riding on a track as well as the temperature in the velodrome (which was, by all accounts, roasting hot). Not sure how significant these might prove to be?
Funny, I was quoting Sky for the wattage losses.
Maybe you should show them how to get their watts back?
If Sky said that then they’re generalising so as not not actually have a proper discussion on the subject.
Not disputing; just curious as to what motivation was to sandbag effort knowing Wiggo was going next?
To ensure he didn’t blow up (see Dekker & Bobridge) and make sure he held the record for some period of time. He probably felt that any number he hit Wiggins could break, so he played it safe knowing he’d get another go at it after the Wiggins effort. Kind of a long view of the thing, but I’m sure he’ll be better prepared for his second ride having already done it once “for real”.
Probably a trade off with his position on the bike. It’s not uncommon to trade CDA for FTP and come out ahead. Some of extreme positions just aren’t as mechanically advantageous or allow you to breathe as fully as if you were on a road bike.
He also might not have zeroed his power meter
I would think someone that is finely tuned on their TT position, with lots of TT miles, would not give up hardly any watts for an hour effort? The article didn’t mention anything like that.
For what it’s worth- I’m familiar with a male rider that raced well in this years Worlds TT event. Their 20 minute power is 400 watts (road and TT position- doesn’t matter for them, even with UCI TT fitting rules) and what they averaged on the Worlds TT course was spot on to their best recorded power efforts.
Probably a trade off with his position on the bike. It’s not uncommon to trade CDA for FTP and come out ahead. Some of extreme positions just aren’t as mechanically advantageous or allow you to breathe as fully as if you were on a road bike.
He also might not have zeroed his power meter
**I would think someone that is finely tuned on their TT position, with lots of TT miles, would not give up hardly any watts for an hour effort? ** The article didn’t mention anything like that.
For what it’s worth- I’m familiar with a male rider that raced well in this years Worlds TT event. Their 20 minute power is 400 watts (road and TT position- doesn’t matter for them, even with UCI TT fitting rules) and what they averaged on the Worlds TT course was spot on to their best recorded power efforts.
see below
Track power will be lower than road power.
A friend who has won medals at Master TT Nats once contemplated going after the hour record, which was ~45kph. As he’s quite aero and powerful, i quipped that the target seemed a bit low as one should be able to do it at 300W. His response: riding in a fixed gear and going through the banking will both take quite a bit out of you.
In light of that, Boardman’s 56.4 km in 1996 (or ~440W) was quite remarkable as he was able to produce that power in the superman position.
Probably a trade off with his position on the bike. It’s not uncommon to trade CDA for FTP and come out ahead. Some of extreme positions just aren’t as mechanically advantageous or allow you to breathe as fully as if you were on a road bike.
He also might not have zeroed his power meter
**I would think someone that is finely tuned on their TT position, with lots of TT miles, would not give up hardly any watts for an hour effort? ** The article didn’t mention anything like that.
For what it’s worth- I’m familiar with a male rider that raced well in this years Worlds TT event. Their 20 minute power is 400 watts (road and TT position- doesn’t matter for them, even with UCI TT fitting rules) and what they averaged on the Worlds TT course was spot on to their best recorded power efforts.
see below
Track power will be lower than road power.
A friend who has won medals at Master TT Nats once contemplated going after the hour record, which was ~45kph. As he’s quite aero and powerful, i quipped that the target seemed a bit low as one should be able to do it at 300W. His response: riding in a fixed gear and going through the banking will both take quite a bit out of you.
In light of that, Boardman’s 56.4 km in 1996 (or ~440W) was quite remarkable as he was able to produce that power in the superman position.
A lot of assumptions about track v road power. I know plenty of riders including masters hour record holders that were able to bang out their road power on the track just fine. Indeed one I coached was able to do better on the track. Riders that are accustomed to track racing generally have less of an issue.
Alex Dowsett significantly under powered his record ride (as I discovered when he told me about it recently). It was a combination of factors but overly zealous coach(es) would be the main culprit. Bobridge’s ride scared the living daylights out of them. There was some tactical games as well but IMO they screwed up his pacing strategy, even though he did set a new mark.
He’ll need to increase his W/m^2 by ~9% from his previous ride to set a new record. It would seem he is capable of doing so. Whether he does or not we’ll see!
Interesting article about Movistar rider Alex Dowsett and that he averaged 358 watts for his 2015 hour record. His wiki says he weighs 75 Kg, yielding an average of only 4.77 w/Kg
He’d get smoked on Zwift with those numbers.
Its not necessary UCI rules but it Track riding that decreases your power output. I consulted a guy who recently set his National Elite record. He seem not to take any of my advise and poop pooped my thought that his FTP would drop considerably. Afterwards, he said I was right about things. Everyone is different, some will hold similar Power on the Track as TT but in my experience most don’t and I have insite into a half dozen record holder including several National Elite record holders. Here is what I said on a different thread
“I will share my experience with you. The Hour Record is a completely different beast, even for pure TTer like me. If you have an FTP of 380w and think you can hold that on a track for an hour; turning every 10s, Fighting G Forces, pedaling at 107 rpms, trying peg the Black Line and never getting a chance to coast or stretch out once, you are mistaken. Its not uncommon for your FTP Hour power numbers to have a double digit percentage drop from your TT numbers. The fact is that talented and genetic gifted athletes will rise to the top in events that fit their psychology BUT for the Hour Record, it takes lots of time on the track. Doing the Hour Record is similar to picking up a new sport for the first time. Your not going to be good without a full dedication to it.”
A lot of assumptions about track v road power. I know plenty of riders including masters hour record holders that were able to bang out their road power on the track just fine. Indeed one I coached was able to do better on the track. Riders that are accustomed to track racing generally have less of an issue.
Alex Dowsett significantly under powered his record ride (as I discovered when he told me about it recently). It was a combination of factors but overly zealous coach(es) would be the main culprit. Bobridge’s ride scared the living daylights out of them. There was some tactical games as well but IMO they screwed up his pacing strategy, even though he did set a new mark.
He’ll need to increase his W/m^2 by ~9% from his previous ride to set a new record. It would seem he is capable of doing so. Whether he does or not we’ll see!
Thanks for the insight. It will be very interesting to see what he does at his next attempt(s)!