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Against non-competitors who are not in peak form. Sure. I guess the main question is how far from his peak Quintana himself is. How much margin he has to improve come summer.
I reviewed the calculations and I was using the distance shown on the TV which was that of the rider in the lead. If I put the actual distance around 9.6 km and no wind I get 6.75 watts/kg.
So pretty much confirms the 6.8 Watts/Kg that everyone is talking about.
Well, some hailed the Provence GC field earlier quite a lot. He "only" took 1:28 on those three but he took over 2 minutes on everyone else including Pinot, Gaudu, Kelderman, Oomen, Herrada, Dunbar, Kuss, Barguil. That's still not a Bernal, Pogacar, Roglic level of opposition but it's close to that. We don't know that Quintana would have beaten everyone yesterday but it's very likely as both the margin of his victory and the climbing times, power output, VAM numbers suggests that this was a brilliant performance. Whether he will be able to replicate this form (or even improve from here) comes July we don't know yet but the signs are good. And we know what Quintana can do to even the best of the peloton when in top form...
I mean whatever role wind or field played you can't downplay this as anything less than an amazing performance.
But wind/field might make the difference between that and 'insanest performance in over a decade'
But wind/field might make the difference between that and 'insanest performance in over a decade'
Ok, we know from Keisse that there was no noticable wind so maybe we can cross that one out from the equation. And the field is almost irrelevant here as we have the proper numbers (VAM, length of climbing compared to past rides, estimated W/kg) to justify that this was a magnificent ride. Stronger / weaker competition performing better / worse doesn't change Quintana's performance at all.
My only argument against breaking PRR > Clinic record is that it's Keisse saying it.
Arkea riding such a pace that everyone blows up could explain the time gaps. We've seen it before, it's the Sky way, and Quintana's won a few times like that. But the time is just bonkers.
Arkea riding such a pace that everyone blows up could explain the time gaps. We've seen it before, it's the Sky way, and Quintana's won a few times like that. But the time is just bonkers.
You just had to watch how Quintana was pedalling, the consistency of his effort and the speed he was going up Ventoux to understand the greatness of his performance. Never seen him like this since he was battling with Froomey in 2013/2015.
Keisse is always talking ***. No wonder he tries to make Nairo's effort look even more ridiculous.
Also think one climb stages are generally underrated in the gaps they produce. Especially when one team absolutely hammers the first half of a climb.
The one climb theory is also true. Verbier comes to mind.
For the time being we can enjoy and see a rejuvenated Quintana and hope that he can at least keep this form throughout the year.
For the time being we can enjoy and see a rejuvenated Quintana and hope that he can at least keep this form throughout the year.
I think this is a much bigger reason why insanely steep climbs produce smaller gaps, and it's cause nobody is dumb enough to completely blow themselves up. For all the talk about power meters, sometiems it seems the entire peloton seems too stupid to use them when there's 20 guys riding an unsustainable pace at the same time.
Oomen (recovering from a serious injury), Dunbar, Barguil... are close to Bernal?
Again, all i'm saying is that i'm not yet on the bandwagon that this is one of the greatest exploits we've ever witnessed. That's all i've been saying. I'm not saying it's not impressive. It is, by any standard. By Carthy's, Lutsenko's and Vlasov's effort, i can only assume Pinot isn't in peak form (luckily) and as such we don't know how his form relates to that of Quintana.
For this to be a reference, if put against worldclass climbers in July, it would still need to stand out. And something tells me, this Lutsenko/Vlasov wouldn't finish within 1m30s of Bernal/Roglic/... in the TDF. I can only assume Quintana isn't even in peak form.
EDIT: i'm not going to make a new post about it, but if circumstances (wind, stage length, difficulty...) didn't play a part, then even Vlasov, Lutsenko and Carthy rode an exceptional climb, compared to all time best results at Chalet Renard. They were 70s faster than Quintana & Froome in 2013, over a minute faster than Armstrong in 2002, 40s faster than Armstrong and Pantani in 2000, a minute and a half faster than Contador in 2009... So, is it possible that there is more to it?
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All I'm saying is that the competition was by no means bad. On the contrary. Yeah Oomen had an injury a loooooooong time ago as did Pinot btw, but I don't think those really hampered them yesterday. Form is surely a factor but playing down Quintana's achievement by suggesting that he is in great form while everyone else is either in bad form, recovering from an injury from who knows when or generally not on a similar level as Bernal isn't really fair. I'm almost sure Quintana himself is also not in the best form of his life. And as I said before the climbing time alone tells a story... Going up Ventoux this quick in February is not only unprecedented but simply astonishing. However I'm also reluctant to call this on of the greatest climbing performances ever (and I think no one in this topic did that btw) but it's mightily impressive for sure.
Quintana took 90 seconds in 28 minutes, and really his attack was 20 minutes. How many races are won with a 5% margin over second place these days? And I’m taking of short stages where everyone has the same intent (wait for the last climb). The level is so high, and the competition so deep year-round, this is an extremely rare feat. No, it wasn’t over Roglic, but Kuss isn’t nobody. I think the data is more important.
He has a good ITT which can be turned into a winning weapon if used correctly. Tony Martin, for example, has a fair share of non-TT wins, despite not having a great sprint, climbing or punch.
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