- Nov 7, 2010
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Re:
Pretty meaningless trying to calculate exact times like that. The most significant factor - apart from power - is aero drag; which he has barely mentioned. You can't just scale drag up and down depending on weight; some riders will have a naturally more aero shape or get in a bet position.
Then there is the question of being able to put out power in an aero position. Even for the best time triallists there is usually a loss of power, compared with what is possible to put out on a mountain. The course is also not completely flat so riders will be going over threshold at times, then recovering slightly on downhill sections. So it's not a question of putting out a steady 400+w.
Winnen said:A dutch professor (Hans van Dijk) did some calculations based on results so far in the Vuelta. He starts from the idea that the W/Kg in the top 5 is not that different from each other since the differences were relatively small so far in the mountains. His results:
1. Dumoulin 71 Kg/436 watt/53.7 km/h / 43:14
2. Aru 62 Kg/381 watt/51.4 km/h / 45:11
3. Majka 62 Kg/381 watt/51.4 km/h / 45:11
4. Rodriguez 58Kg/356 watt/50.2 km/h / 46:15
5. Chavs 54Kg/331 watt/49.1 km/h / 47:17
Factors that will influence his results (according to him):
1 Fatigue
2 Mental strength
3 Using the same watt/kg for all 5 cyclists
4 Environmental conditions
Link: http://www.fiets.nl/2015/09/08/kan-tom-dumoulin-de-vuelta-nog-winnen/ (dutch)
Pretty meaningless trying to calculate exact times like that. The most significant factor - apart from power - is aero drag; which he has barely mentioned. You can't just scale drag up and down depending on weight; some riders will have a naturally more aero shape or get in a bet position.
Then there is the question of being able to put out power in an aero position. Even for the best time triallists there is usually a loss of power, compared with what is possible to put out on a mountain. The course is also not completely flat so riders will be going over threshold at times, then recovering slightly on downhill sections. So it's not a question of putting out a steady 400+w.