Who's made the most out of limited talent?

[Le breton]

Look breton, I take that with a grain of salt. I see power listing of Boardman at 400w for his 2000 hour record, which seems more realistic for a 68-69 kg man, The 442 does not seem right..... I cant believe that. I can wonder if anybody ever got to 7.2 at their FTP, similar to how I wonder if there isn't something behind the big foot myth.

Its stuff of legend I guess.

Cheers, not trying to get into a huge fight over power estimates.

OK, you say that you aren't trying to get into a huge fight but you certainly act differently.

We aren't talking about whether the power outputs are realistic or not, at least not me, I am talking about what the power outputs actually were.

If you think you know better than Peter Keen what Boardman's power output was during his superman hour (56.375km), maybe you should take the matter up with him before polluting this forum.

If you don't know who Peter Keen is maybe you should first have a look on the web.

Anyway, now you changed the subject to the year 2000 old (Merckx) style bike hour record during which Boardman covered 49.441 km and this time you happen to give a figure very close to the one that can be inferred from Peter Keen's work, ie 400 watts (my own estimate using the data collected in Peter Keen's published scientific article was 403 watts.

Concerning Rominger's 7.2 watts/kg, that figure is based on Ferrari's work as I understand it, so if you don't believe the figure given by Ferrari, why don't you take the matter up with him rather than with us forumers?

PS
http://jap.physiology.org/content/89/4/1522.full.pdf
In that paper Padilla gives Rominger's power output as 456 watts during his 55.291 km. (7 to 7.1 watts/kg for 65-64 kg)
But this is off by 20 watts on Boardman's value in his 56.375 km record (he writes 462 watts when Keen's figure is 442 watts and very trustworthy)

 

[Le breton]

Benjamin Noval. Countless tour participations, but never seen at the front of the field during TV coverage, no wins, no top-placings, no breakaway attempts, no good time trialist, no good climber, no good sprinter, but

constantly there

and

finishing. Even participating in several tour wins. Quite impressive for a guy with no visible talents.

My vote goes to Pat McQuaid
Oh, no, sorry that's Peter principle.

 

[Le breton]

..............
But this is off by 20 watts on Boardman's value in his 56.375 km record (he writes 462 watts when Keen's figure is 442 watts and very trustworthy)

Additional info for bigboat

. Abstract BASSETT, D. R. JR, C. R. KYLE, L. PASSFIELD, J. P. BROKER, and E. R. BURKE. Comparing cycling world hour records, 1967–1996: modeling with empirical data. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 31, No. 11, pp. 1665–1676, 1999. Purpose: The world hour record in cycling has increased dramatically in recent years. The present study was designed to compare the performances of former/current record holders, after adjusting for differences in aerodynamic equipment and altitude. Additionally, we sought to determine the ideal elevation for future hour record attempts. Methods: The first step was constructing a mathematical model to predict power requirements of track cycling. The model was based on empirical data from wind-tunnel tests, the relationship of body size to frontal surface area, and field power measurements using a crank dynamometer (SRM). The model agreed reasonably well with actual measurements of power output on elite cyclists. Subsequently, the effects of altitude on maximal aerobic power were estimated from published research studies of elite athletes. This information was combined with the power requirement equation to predict what each cyclist’s power output would have been at sea level. This allowed us to estimate the distance that each rider could have covered using state-of-the-art equipment at sea level. According to these calculations, when racing under equivalent conditions, Rominger would be first, Boardman second, Merckx third, and Indurain fourth. .............
According to the model, the required power would be 452 W at 56.375 kph. In a personal communication to Craig Turner, Peter Keen estimated that Boardman produced about 442 W during his latest hour record (37); so in this case, the model predicts high by about 2%.

 

[Le breton]

Additional info for bigboat

According to the model, the required power would be 452 W at 56.375 kph. In a personal communication to Craig Turner, Peter Keen estimated that Boardman produced about 442 W during his latest hour record (37); so in this case, the model predicts high by about 2%.

another excerpt of that paper
This model predicts that Rominger had the highest power output of all time, based upon his distance 55.291 km and the equipment that he utilized. The estimate of his power is probably somewhat high (460 W), but it should be definitely be greater than Boardman’s. Our model estimated Boardman high (452 W), so if one corrects Rominger by the same ratio (442/452), it would give 450 W for Rominger.

450 watts/64.5 kg = 6.98 watts/kg

This from world experts on the matter.

 

[SiAp1984]

My vote goes to Pat McQuaid
Oh, no, sorry that's Peter principle.

Ey, I was serious about Noval!

 

[cyclopeon]

My vote goes to Pat McQuaid

Darn, I was just thinking this myself!

Oh, no, sorry that's Peter principle.

No, he passed the Peter principle long long ago.

 

[BigBoat]

another excerpt of that paper
This model predicts that Rominger had the highest power output of all time, based upon his distance 55.291 km and the equipment that he utilized. The estimate of his power is probably somewhat high (460 W), but it should be definitely be greater than Boardman’s. Our model estimated Boardman high (452 W), so if one corrects Rominger by the same ratio (442/452), it would give 450 W for Rominger.

450 watts/64.5 kg = 6.98 watts/kg

This from world experts on the matter.

Their models though, their not perfect. But it is eye popping.

I think Ferrari knows what his real power was. Would be interesting to discuss it with him. I should send him an email.

Floyd Landis' FTP was about 395 at 68 kg during his infamous stage 17 ride. 4.1 w/kg average for the whole stage.

The top guns over the last 15 years have all been pretty close in the range of 6.1-6.4 w/kg. Its just mind boggling that there might be someone who was higher than that. Surely not 7 though. Probably 6.5. Still, damn insane.