Lance said that he experianced classic dehydration on yesterdays TT.Said he lost 7 kilos(14 to 15 lbs)Is that posiible on a 30 mile 47k ride.Seem it would be hard to lose that much that fast?
Lance (much as I admire him) is talking a lot of BS these days.
Put the “I lost 15 lbs. of fluids” assertion alongside the “I don’t need to attack Jan in the Pyrenees”, the “if I enter the final TT with a 34 second margin, I won’t lose any sleep”, and the “I’m only going to get better” assertions.
Losing 15 lbs. in 60 minutes is “almost unheard of”, says Roll. No – it happens, but you are usually dead and mummified by the time they measure that sort of loss.
Frankly, pretty lame for a guy with the experience and maniacal degree of preparation focus Lance has to blame his TT hammering on severe dehydration. So it wasn’t equally hot when Jan was riding?
That’s a fairly rough take on Lance, alp. Listen a little more closely. He said he accrued that loss on the day, not on the course. These guys don’t just hop on the bike and go, ya know? The difference in weight was probably the actual difference between morning weigh-in and post race weigh in. That difference will then include loss from urination/defication, loss from warm-up sweat, and loss from the event itself, minus all intake. I have lost 15 lbs on a day before and not keeled over. But I was hurting at the end of a 15 mile forced march lasting about 4 hours, or probably close to what these guy’s actual work was. They probably warmed for 2-3 hours prior to starting. I reckon he was probably down only 1/2-2/3 the weight during his time on the bike, the rest was gone prior to stepping over the top-tube. His dramatic slowdown definitely points to dehydration effects. Don’t forget, he was even with JU at the first time check.
I will grant you that it seems a dumb and rookie mistake to get that far down, especially when only 1 hour of effort was under pressure. And especially when he knows he has a bit of problem with the heat. Sloppy mistakes. But take nothing away from the superior effort of Ullrich. He confirmed his superior form today. He smells blood and will take it to Lance over the next two days. Mano-a-mano, this will be a great race to watch.
That would make more sense (musta been a helluva lot of urination/defecation, though). And who doesn’t drink occasionally while doing the TT warmup?
FWIW, I tried to put the 15lb/racing hour in a context I could understand. In '00, I won our state TT under similar weather conditions and, like two other guys, had to go to the ER after the finish to get rehydrated (in my case, 3 bags of saline). Even then I “only” lost ~8 lbs. in that hour of racing.
What a great Tour this is – even better than '89…
Chris Carmichael’s comments: http://www.lancearmstrong.com/lance/online2.nsf/htmltdf03/cc
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Yup, makes perfect sense to me. I deal with this sort of thing all the time with Marines who don’t hydrate during force marches and field training.
Thanks for the info…15lbs still seems a bit much for a 150lb man. I was in the Marines also…Did IM CDA in 95 degree heat. Worst was a 20 mile run in 90 degree heat with no fluids. I am 185 and lost 8lbs on that,the last 3 miles my HR went sky high due to dehydration. As far as accumalated loss over the whole day…Would He not know better to not hydrate?..By the way thanks for all the encouragement and advice during my building for CDA…I just wonder how much Lance is posturing to either show 1)He is not cracking or 2)to suprise the field. He just seem so calculating of an individual. I find all this intresting and educating…Thanks Again Ken
Would He not know better to not hydrate?..<<
But they also have very strict rules about when you can and cannot take nutrition from the team cars and the feed zones. If you run out and are past a certain point, then you are screwed. And, if you are off by yourself and have no teammate to go get the fluids, then that’s another problem. It’s not like each rider is carrying 6 water bottles with him and just forgets to drink.
Actually, Lance lost about 9-10 lbs. NOT 15lbs! and you’d be suprised how much you can lose in just an hour of warm-up in warm temperatures. It’s true it was an amateurs mistake, but you can count on Lance bouncing back! I have faith in the man!
It sounds to me like Lance just came up with the most scientific way to say he had the runs and it affected his performance.