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speed of pro cyclists?

post #1 of 28
6/28/05 at 11:14pm
Thread Starter 
what is the average mph that a pro cyclist can maintain for a 20-50 mile ride?
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post #2 of 28
6/29/05 at 12:45am

Re: speed of pro cyclists?

Quote:
Originally Posted by wnowak06
what is the average mph that a pro cyclist can maintain for a 20-50 mile ride?
Lance, Tyler, Bobby, and other top time trialists can do a little more than 30 flat miles in an hour (or mid 30's on an hour TT in a velodrome).

I don't understand your question? I suppose the answer depends on weather the pro is racing, time trialing, doing a recovery ride, etc...

I'll go out on a limb and say if a pro is only doing 20-50 miles then the chances are that it's likely a recovery ride of some sort and they aren't going too fast... maybe high teen average? who knows. Your question really makes no sense.

It also depends a lot on what your definition of 'pro cyclist' is. And what gender said 'pro cyclist' is. I'll assume you mean pro-tour roadie or at least continental pro.
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post #3 of 28
6/29/05 at 1:00am

Re: speed of pro cyclists?

Yeah, it really depends on the conditions and what kind of race it is (road or time trialing). I would say most good time trialists can average pretty close to 30mph. Road racing can vary a lot if you figure in if there are any climbs, breaks, or sprints.
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post #4 of 28
6/29/05 at 2:15am

Re: speed of pro cyclists?

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChangMan
Yeah, it really depends on the conditions and what kind of race it is (road or time trialing). I would say most good time trialists can average pretty close to 30mph. Road racing can vary a lot if you figure in if there are any climbs, breaks, or sprints.
hehe, pro's don't do road races as short as 20-50 miles... They do road races that are 120-150 miles. 20-50 is cat 4 territory.
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post #5 of 28
6/29/05 at 2:51am

Re: speed of pro cyclists?

Quote:
Originally Posted by mattv2099
...I'll go out on a limb and say if a pro is only doing 20-50 miles then the chances are that it's likely a recovery ride of some sort and they aren't going too fast... maybe high teen average?
Couldn't it be a 40km time trial or some Olympic race or an hour record attempt?



wnowak06, I've read that Armstrong would do 4 to 5 hour rides at 65% of his max heart rate. His average speed for those training sessions would be 20 MPH. I've also read that while training for the 2004 TdF Jan Ulrich was doing daily 3 to 4 hour rides at 25 MPH. These are just training rides though and are not racing conditions. They are also substantially longer than 20 - 50 miles!!
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post #6 of 28
6/29/05 at 2:23pm

Re: speed of pro cyclists?

If I recall correctly, Super Mario won a tour stage (2003 Stage 4?) at an average speed of 53+ kmph. I think the stage was 200 km give or take, it was flat and there was a kick **** tail wind.
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post #7 of 28
6/30/05 at 6:06am

Re: speed of pro cyclists?

I have it on good authority (magazine article on T-mobile) that small groups of T-mobile riders (3-8) would do 6 hr sessions at 33-34 km/hr, however I don't know the course profile, if it was mountainous or very hilly this would be quite fast.

Here's the whole schedule: this would be what I guess is base conditioning, apparently the training was even more difficult for the group that was to do their first tour in January.

day 1: 4-4.5 hrs; 1x10 km team at team time trial pace; 3x10 km individually at same power output as in a TTT.

day 2: 5 hrs aerobic workout

day 3: 6-6.5 hrs (33-34 km/hr) (about 200 km distance)

day 4: day off, maybe 2 hrs relaxed riding

day 5: 4-4.5 hrs; containing 60-80 minutes at TT pace in 30 minute blocks

day 6: 5 hr aerobic conditioning

day 7: 6-6.5 hrs aerobic conditioning 33-34 km/hr (about 200 km distance)

day 8: rest (or 2 hrs easy ride)

Looking at their workout, I could do part of it but my mileage is far less, my legs would get too tired even on only 500 km/week.
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post #8 of 28
6/30/05 at 12:12pm

Re: speed of pro cyclists?

there is NO point in talking about average speed unless it's on a velodrome, and the rider is doing a TIME TRIAL. that's not even to mention the differences in equipment, track surface, weather conditions, etc etc.

but just for the heck of it, a DIV 1 pro will ride a flat 40km TT at 30-33mph average, in most cases.
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post #9 of 28
6/30/05 at 2:33pm

Re: speed of pro cyclists?

Quote:
Originally Posted by velomanct
there is NO point in talking about average speed unless it's on a velodrome, and the rider is doing a TIME TRIAL. that's not even to mention the differences in equipment, track surface, weather conditions, etc etc.

but just for the heck of it, a DIV 1 pro will ride a flat 40km TT at 30-33mph average, in most cases.
When Cipo did his retirement ride down the Giro prologue course he was going about 38kph.
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post #10 of 28
6/30/05 at 3:11pm

Re: speed of pro cyclists?

Quote:
Originally Posted by bikeguy
I have it on good authority (magazine article on T-mobile) that small groups of T-mobile riders (3-8) would do 6 hr sessions at 33-34 km/hr, however I don't know the course profile, if it was mountainous or very hilly this would be quite fast.

Here's the whole schedule: this would be what I guess is base conditioning, apparently the training was even more difficult for the group that was to do their first tour in January.

day 1: 4-4.5 hrs; 1x10 km team at team time trial pace; 3x10 km individually at same power output as in a TTT.

day 2: 5 hrs aerobic workout

day 3: 6-6.5 hrs (33-34 km/hr) (about 200 km distance)

day 4: day off, maybe 2 hrs relaxed riding

day 5: 4-4.5 hrs; containing 60-80 minutes at TT pace in 30 minute blocks

day 6: 5 hr aerobic conditioning

day 7: 6-6.5 hrs aerobic conditioning 33-34 km/hr (about 200 km distance)

day 8: rest (or 2 hrs easy ride)

Looking at their workout, I could do part of it but my mileage is far less, my legs would get too tired even on only 500 km/week.
Notice they didn't say how fast/hard they rode on their TT or TTT workouts. I would imigane it's much higer than 33-34 kph....
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post #11 of 28
7/1/05 at 12:19pm

Re: speed of pro cyclists?

Quote:
Originally Posted by mises
When Cipo did his retirement ride down the Giro prologue course he was going about 38kph.
you're not serious, are you? sure Cipo did 38kph for the prologue, but it was for pure ceremony purposes, he could care less about how he placed.

I am never responding to "average speed" threads again. so silly
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post #12 of 28
7/1/05 at 1:15pm

Re: speed of pro cyclists?

Quote:
Originally Posted by velomanct
I am never responding to "average speed" threads again. so silly
Replace "average" with "typical" then when you read the question. The OP just wants to get some idea how fast the big boys can ride under average conditions since you can't really tell how fast they're going on TV. Certainly the answer depends upon conditions, but the curiosity doesn't seem unreasonable.
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post #13 of 28
7/1/05 at 2:27pm

Re: speed of pro cyclists?

Here's an answer,

Faster than most (all?) of us....
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post #14 of 28
7/1/05 at 2:54pm

Re: speed of pro cyclists?

Quote:
Originally Posted by velomanct
you're not serious, are you? sure Cipo did 38kph for the prologue, but it was for pure ceremony purposes, he could care less about how he placed.

I am never responding to "average speed" threads again. so silly
I watched my RAI coverage DVD I burned again the other night and timed him. I was riding at the time so I could have been a second or two +/- on my timing but it came out 38 kph. You have to remember Cipo was pulled over in Italy for motorpacing at 75 kph on the freeway a couple years ago.
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post #15 of 28
7/2/05 at 10:10am

Re: speed of pro cyclists?

Mises, he was pulled over doing 90 km/hr, but really cycling fast isn't that hard when you have something big in front of you and enough gears.
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