Why can't someone like Robbie McEwen climb?

jojoma

I think Robbie is only about 5'8'' and 150. His power to weight ratio must be incredible. So why is it that he can't climb? Does it simply have to do with oxygen uptake capacity (i.e. his genetics are good for speed but not endurance??)??

RHR38

I think he actually can climb pretty well, but of course he doesn't climb as well as climber specialist. Athletes at Pro Tour are so good that it's better to take some role if you have any abilitys for that. Robbie is a sprinter, but of course he must have some overall abilitys to drive trough gran tours and other PT races during season. It's actually not that easy 'just drive through' mountain stage with time limit.

italiano

Yeah, I wondered that too. You hear often that the ratio of weight to power is the limiting factor for climbing. But Robbie is small and is called a pocket rocket not for nothing’. May be the clue is that he can’t keep the effort as long as a true climbers can?. IF he can generate all his kick for only 10 seconds, he then needs to sit in to recharge his batteries? May be his sprinters genetics don’t buffer his lactic acid as quickly as a body of a true endurance racer? I also noticed that the same (can’t climb) holds true even for some “small” time trial specialists. Remember Boardman? At the top of his song he weighted in at only 67 kg. He’d win a prologue only to lose his yellow jersey as soon as climbing passes start…

True climbers have wings that we, casual observers, can’t see.

Frigo's Luggage

Its mostly genetics. He is loaded with fast twitch muscles. Climbers are loaded with slow twitch muscles. Plus he trains to sprint. Climbers train to climb.

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jhuskey

5'8" 150 is not really terrific ratio for a climber. 5'8" 135 is getting into the realm of the pure climbing talent but it is all about how your body stores and releases energy.
I have a friend that I ride with and can stay with him on the flats all day but when we hit 11 percent grades or better he starts to pull away.
He is the same weight as I am but is about 2-3 inches taller and to give myself a little slack he trains in the mountains more than me.
That is what it takes, some talent and lot of sweat.

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kopride

It also matters how you define "climb." If climb is a TdF mountain stage than this might not be his thing, and as noted by others, 150 pounds is no lightweight compared to the true climbers. But if climb is defined as a 1k hill climb up a steep grade, I would bet on Robbie over Rasmussen.

Piotr

I would bet on a 132 lb sprinter like Bettini.

FWIW, I'm a 120 lb anaerobically inclined rider and I can attest that low weight isn't all it's hyped up to be. I can climb with some good cat. 3's for 20 minutes, but I tend to struggle on longer climbs. I'm working on it though .

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millzebub

I would be curious to know what McEwan's FTP is. It does seem strange that someone that small with that much power couldn't compete on the climbs. Strange...

Piotr

It's all relative. I'm sure he could compete just fine with the best climbers on this forum. Dave Zabriskie is not known to be a great Tour climber either, but he won our fabled Snowbird HC at least once as an amateur. It is tactical riding and 5sec - 3min power that makes McEwan a winner. Weight doesn't mean that much if you don't have the oxygen "consuming" slow-twitch muscles (Type I) required to be a good climber.

Bettini stated on his website in the past that his threshold power is 375 Watts (at 60 kg). I don't know how he defines threshold power though.

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john979

Simple answer: he has a power profile that clearly favors the left.

byron27

Considering Robbie attacked at the Aussie Champs a few years ago on a climb and soloed away i reckon he can climb when he has too!

Why do it when your paid to sprint?

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john979

Quite different than Alpe d'Huez, non?

531Aussie

He's obviously not a natural cimber, but he could definitely climb and TT faster if he wanted to. He's gotta save himself for the next sprint finish.

In other words, some people think he climbs as fast as he can in the Tour, but I reckon he climbs as slow as he can, in order to save his legs for the next flat stage. What's the point of him trying to do a mountain stage an extra 10, 20 or 30 mins faster for hardly any overall GC gain, only to wreck his chances of taking a susbsequent stage win?

He has different fish to fry, so it's not in his interests to finish to Tour in 80th place as opposed to 100th place

john979

While this is absolutely true, this does not mean that even if he dedicated himself to the task he could climb with the best or be a GC contender.