How is this possible? How did Van der Poel average 29 mph on a road bike over that terrain for 5 hours 25? Especially since he rode the last 37 miles solo. Did he get a draft from the motor cycles?
It looks like sub 4 hours for Ironman has only been done 5 times. 4 hours is 28 mph.
I cannot wrap my head around this.
A healthy cross tailwind on a sunny and dry day will do a lot to boost the race speed in Paris-Roubaix.
Combine that with a race that kicked off quite early - compare the size of the group that arrived first at the Arenberg to some past editions - and that’s how you end up with a record speed.
Buy Canyon
Haha. Kidding, but what a score he has been for the brand and the long-term deal they’ve had. Just renewed for 10 more years.
I don’t know “how” he does it, but this site has a nice analyses of power numbers:
https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-training/power-analysis-mathieu-van-der-poel-paris-roubaix/
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How is this possible? How did Van der Poel average 29 mph on a road bike over that terrain for 5 hours 25? Especially since he rode the last 37 miles solo. Did he get a draft from the motor cycles?
It looks like sub 4 hours for Ironman has only been done 5 times. 4 hours is 28 mph.
I cannot wrap my head around this.
Do you realize that the best cyclist in the world is a much better cyclist than the best triathletes? Same goes for swimming and running, I think Kipchoge can beat Jason West, Schoeman might not keep up with Paltrinieri in the open water, etc.
the swim course was short
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How is this possible? How did Van der Poel average 29 mph on a road bike over that terrain for 5 hours 25? Especially since he rode the last 37 miles solo. Did he get a draft from the motor cycles?
It looks like sub 4 hours for Ironman has only been done 5 times. 4 hours is 28 mph.
I cannot wrap my head around this.
Do you realize that the best cyclist in the world is a much better cyclist than the best triathletes? Same goes for swimming and running, I think Kipchoge can beat Jason West, Schoeman might not keep up with Paltrinieri in the open water, etc.
You do realize that they do all 3 in a tri, though?
To do a sub 4 hour IM bike is impressive because of what came before and what comes after, obviously.
How is this possible? How did Van der Poel average 29 mph on a road bike over that terrain for 5 hours 25? Especially since he rode the last 37 miles solo. Did he get a draft from the motor cycles?
It looks like sub 4 hours for Ironman has only been done 5 times. 4 hours is 28 mph.
I cannot wrap my head around this.
Do you realize that the best cyclist in the world is a much better cyclist than the best triathletes? Same goes for swimming and running, I think Kipchoge can beat Jason West, Schoeman might not keep up with Paltrinieri in the open water, etc.
Agreed. Comparing the disciplines is not apples to apples.
There was a bit of a cross tail wind, not a tremendous amount and the terrain is relatively flat. Races start early these days, there is more parity in the peloton, riders are used up early by the team which allows for high speeds for anyone who can stay in a good position. In Mathieu’s case he is strong as, his team marshalled that race with authority, other teams contributed to the work and then he uncorked a ~400w normalized solo on everyone with bigger punches on the cobbles and less watts on the roads to “recover”. The equipment and setups help as well.
You do realize that they do all 3 in a tri, though?
To do a sub 4 hour IM bike is impressive because of what came before and what comes after, obviously.
Yes, I am a triathlete myself… lol.
I would love to go sub 9 IM or sub 2 Oly, one day but that might not be in the cards for me anymore, going sub 8 IM is insane. Sub 4 bike split is 45 kph and extremely fast for a triathlete.
How is this relevant to the discussion though?
The argument of the OP is how come MvdP biked 48 kph for 280 km at PR on road bikes and cobblestones if the likes Leon Chevalier and others can only go 45 kph over 180 km.
It’s a silly argument…MvdP is a much better cyclist than any triathlete.
[quote Engner66The argument of the OP is how come MvdP biked 48 kph for 280 km at PR on road bikes and cobblestones if the likes Leon Chevalier and others can only go 45 kph over 180 km.
It’s a silly argument…MvdP is a much better cyclist than any triathlete.
OP was putting MvdP’s performance in terms he can relate to. He’s not arguing anything.
[quote Engner66The argument of the OP is how come MvdP biked 48 kph for 280 km at PR on road bikes and cobblestones if the likes Leon Chevalier and others can only go 45 kph over 180 km.
It’s a silly argument…MvdP is a much better cyclist than any triathlete.
OP was putting MvdP’s performance in terms he can relate to. He’s not arguing anything.
He questioned MvdP ridiculous average speed at PR based on the speed of the fastest IM riders. Easy rebuttal, the likes of Leon Chevalier are amazing cyclists but not in the league of the MvdP et al. Just look at Wurf’s results this year, he has DNFed 3/5 races when racing these guys.
It’s not just Van Der Poel’s average speed. The guys who came in 2 min later pretty well had a similar average speed. 49 * (325/327)…it is basically 99.4% of Van der Poel’s speed.
The answer to this is fast bike gear, good rubber, massive cross tail.
and the 0.6% faster that MVdP did over the chasers we can discuss and debate that. The actual speed is not so relevant. How he toyed with the field IS THE DISCUSSION. Some are saying he picks his battles and makes them count (ex Worlds, Flanders, Roubaix) while others do all kinds of races and grind themselves into the ground so they can’t react to him because they are doing multiple races per week and MVdP does his key events every week or every few weeks (Milan San Remo, E3, Flanders Roubaix) and sits out in between.
It is well documented that the average speeds have gone up over the last couple of years.
Reasons (in my opinion) as follows, aerodynamics: most guys wear skinsuits all the time, aero frames, pretty much TT helmets on road races, etc. so just a much more aero peloton. Tire technology: tubeless wider tires are faster. Nutrition: these guys are eating more/better than the previous generations, so can spend a lot more time in the higher zones.
Funny enough, I think a lot of the above have been done by triathlete cyclists for decades now.
Agreed to all of that, but the big contributor was the tailwind. The rest of course have statistically helped (or we can argue hurt and made the sport more hazardous) across the board in every race !
The question you’re asking is valid - when Magnus’s ftp is as high as it is reported to be, it’s hard to imagine MVP’s is so much higher as to offset the higher CdA of his road bike position vs that of a triathlete biking sub 4 hours, or so much higher as to offset the difference in rolling resistance of smooth tarmac vs cobbles.
pink - the cobbles most likely create a trip layer between the tire contact point and cobbles, creating a layer of air between the tires and the ground making the bike hover, and this layer of air engulfs the rider to lower CdA below 0.15.
Agreed to all of that, but the big contributor was the tailwind. The rest of course have statistically helped (or we can argue hurt and made the sport more hazardous) across the board in every race !
Not the first time that PR has a cross-tailwind. Average speeds records will continue to be smashed this season. And unfortunately, I also suspect this will contribute to more crashes.
Have you ever rode with a tailwind? I used to live in Nebraska, you can cruise at 27-30 mph while riding 270 watts on a roadbike when you get nice juicy 20-30 mile hour gusts at your back. MVP would probably ride slower than sam laidlow and magnus during kona if he was required to swim 4k beforehand. Its a different sport.
Have you ever rode with a tailwind? I used to live in Nebraska, you can cruise at 27-30 mph while riding 270 watts on a roadbike when you get nice juicy 20-30 mile hour gusts at your back. MVP would probably ride slower than sam laidlow and magnus during kona if he was required to swim 4k beforehand. Its a different sport.
I love condescending passive aggressive silly questions, the Wilma Flintstone personality at its best.
If you need 270 W to ride at those speeds with those tailwinds, you have a really bad bike position. As likes-bikes stated it was a predominant cross-tail.
So now we are discussing MvdP “what if” as a triathlete in Kona?
What’s wrong with the “what if”? In fact its most certain isn’t it? According to the Average Rob wager and the fact that the video now has 106,000 likes, its an inevitability.
We’ll finally settle all this, doesn’t that make everyone happy?