Wiggins - Hour Record

[TShame]

how many watts does he need? if over 500, he can't do it.

I think Wiggins sports trainer said he would do about 440-450 watts. I would love to see some readings. Wiggins is pretty light, so his watts per kilo is up there with the best. He also is comfortable in a fairly extreme aero position and holds the black line better than other track riders.

Indurain did 505 watts for his hour. But, his watts per kilo was about the same as Boardman and other record holders. (and his position was too upright).

53-54 is as high as I would calculate, at least at sea level. Wiggins doesn't like riding at altitude (few do). I think Wiggo has the mental tenacity that is needed. It is a LOT harder on the track than an outdoor road time trial.

I also think Wiggins is devoting more time and effort to his attempt than some of the others. It takes months of planning and training. You can't just jump on the bike and ride and expect it to be great.

Looking forward to getting more attempt dates.

 

[TShame]

Just a quick update....

Wiggins did 456 in his time trial in 2013.

He said he would target 470-480 for his winning ride in 2014.

So, around 6.6 watts per kilogram.

 

[samhocking]

Issue is whether one can gain a speed advantage, not a physiological one.

For most the physics gains outweigh the physiological losses.

It certainly would be interesting to know just what his power drops off by above 1600m. The only clue he's ever given is he expects to loose up to a minute per km in the higher MTFs.

 

[blackcat]

i wanna see Sparticus and Phinney do an hour.

They can rival Wiggins.

Moser reckons 56, he is prolly right. Jacky Bobby should knock out 53.5 for breakfast.

Maybe Ed Clancy might be able to knock out something high. I remember Wiggins first coach at British Cycling, the track guy, the one Cavendish hated and knocked in his book, he said Clancy put out the same numbers as Wiggo on the boards.

And think Clancy has a 1'02' in the kilo when he has done the omnium. I know the Hour aint about max watts.

 

[blackcat]

The endurance riders at my track say a longer velodrome is better than a short one. Are there any indoor velodromes longer than 250 m?

Moscow. The sprinters love Moscow cos the banks are like a steep cliff. It is like Ross Clark-Jones surfing Waimea, paddle in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rizqMGmaqJ0

 

[twothirds]

Moscow. The sprinters love Moscow cos the banks are like a steep cliff. It is like Ross Clark-Jones surfing Waimea, paddle in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rizqMGmaqJ0

It is longer, and it is a fast track, but Moscow's reputation for speed is really only warranted when it comes to sprinting. At 333m it should be around 33/34 degrees, but it's banked at 42, like a 250m track. It's also much wider than a normal track, so the cliff reference is appropriate. For an hour record those numbers mean nothing. The steepness of the bank might help someone keep their line down in the banks tho.

 

[samhocking]

Anyone know where tickets for Wiggins Hour attempt at Lea Valley will be available? I'm assuming seetickets.com/ because they do the tickets for Revolution and also Alex Dowsett's Perfect Hour tickets?

 

[King Boonen]

i wanna see Sparticus and Phinney do an hour.

They can rival Wiggins.

Moser reckons 56, he is prolly right. Jacky Bobby should knock out 53.5 for breakfast.

Maybe Ed Clancy might be able to knock out something high. I remember Wiggins first coach at British Cycling, the track guy, the one Cavendish hated and knocked in his book, he said Clancy put out the same numbers as Wiggo on the boards.

And think Clancy has a 1'02' in the kilo when he has done the omnium. I know the Hour aint about max watts.

Ed Clancy is always talked about as one of the best track riders Britain has had. The speed of track sprinter, stamina of a pursuiter etc. Could well be a good bet for it.

 

[blackcat]

Ed Clancy is always talked about as one of the best track riders Britain has had. The speed of track sprinter, stamina of a pursuiter etc. Could well be a good bet for it.

never got any credit for his ability.

was he not the engine of the teams pursuit, with G. But Clancy had to start, and was a phenomenal starter, which a specialist position in the teams. The Australians loved Graeme Brown as the starter in their reign.

 

[King Boonen]

never got any credit for his ability.

was he not the engine of the teams pursuit, with G. But Clancy had to start, and was a phenomenal starter, which a specialist position in the teams. The Australians loved Graeme Brown as the starter in their reign.

That's what I heard, it was basically like having a sprint lead-out at the front of the pursuit team but he was then capable of doing his turns too. Phenomenal rider apparently, absolutely hates riding on the road, only did it because he was forced to.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Ed Clancy is always talked about as one of the best track riders Britain has had. The speed of track sprinter, stamina of a pursuiter etc. Could well be a good bet for it.

No chance with bells on - he can barely reach the end of scratch race without stopping for a breather - his 'stamina' really is of the 4 minute variety.

 

[samhocking]

Clancy's gift is explosive sprinting and team pursuiting and he's brilliant at both. His talent simply doesn't and won't stretch into the pure endurance gifts required for an hour record like Wiggins who's is.

 

[blackcat]

Clancy's gift is explosive sprinting and team pursuiting and he's brilliant at both. His talent simply doesn't and won't stretch into the pure endurance gifts required for an hour record like Wiggins who's is.

as an espoir i think his tt was more than decent. Think he might have won a Tour of Berlin 10km tt when he was riding with Cav on a team like Sparkasse or Thuringer Energie

 

[samhocking]

I'm sure he could do a mean 10km TT. Unfortunately the hour record is nothing like a 10km TT. Cavendish & Clancy are actually very similar types of rider and nobody would expect Cavendish to take on the hour record.

 

[Shame]

So now, what about Dowsett's Second attempt? Why is he choosing sea level? The best way to beat Brad has to be altitude. It doesn't have to be extremely high altitude. I hope it isn't just the money. I would love him to beat it and see if Wiggins would follow.

 

[Alex Simmons/RST]

We had some discussion about this on another social media platform and I made some calculations about the additional power demand (really the additional W/m^2 demand) compared with his previous attempt (something like 9-10% more required).

On that basis I didn't think he'd get close unless he went to altitude*, since that sort of performance jump is a lot. Others mentioned that he way under-powered his previous attempt for various reasons, which I found a little hard to believe, although looking at his pacing chart he certainly lifted a lot in the latter part of the ride so there was clearly a fair bit in the tank.

Alex actually contacted me as he'd seen the discussion and after that chat I'm convinced he really didn't lay everything on the line and that he actually has a shot at sea level of setting a new mark, or getting close. IMO his coaching team made an error with the pacing strategy but it's hard to criticise when you actually set a new record.

It will still need a bunch of things to go right, e.g. barometric pressure to be good on the day, that sort of thing. The track he's chosen is also a little faster than where Wiggins rode as well. Nevertheless, everything has to go well on the day, and it doesn't take much to have an sub-par performance.

Altitude is difficult from a logistics and cost POV if you are not already based there. These attempts are expensive exercises, and so while the physics and physiology add up, the logistics and dollars may not. Paying spectators helps a lot in that regard.

Having said that, if Alex can beat Wiggin's mark at sea level, then he's also a reasonable chance of being able to beat Boardman's superman record if he went to Aguascalientes.

As with anyone who has a crack at an hour record, whatever their competition level, I wish them well.


* the altitude speed gain of Aguascalientes is almost bang on the gap between Dowsett's previous ride and Wiggin's mark