An interesting read from Cyclingnews.com. Of course I had to mention this to the therapist, who's been telling me that I need to build glute strength and improve my relatively poor hamstring and psoas flexibility, only to get the "I told you so". She's been doing this for 15 years - I guess I should listen more. LOL
Full article and pictures: http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2009/features/saxo_bank_BGfit109
Fabian Cancellara - a study in strength and flexibility
Olympic time trial champion Fabian Cancellara made a clear impression on Pruitt, with the American proclaiming after the medical assessment and initial bike fit that, "I have learned a lot about the reason for this guy's success in the last few minutes". The reason for his praise? Cancellara's considerable flexibility and strength, which enable him to comfortably hold an aerodynamic tuck during time trials. Of the Saxo Bank riders seen, Cancellara seemed to impress Pruitt most, biomechanically; in fact, he had some good news for the Swiss TT specialist after the examination.
As is always the case, the BG assessment started off with an examination of the rider off the bike. Cancellara was judged to have good shoulder strength, and was then asked to touch his toes; he did more than that, putting the palms of his hands flat on the ground and earning praise from the assessor. His leg length was found to be equal.
He was then asked to lie on his back, straighten his leg and raise it upwards towards the vertical; he was found to have 85 degrees of angle on the right leg, with three more on the left. Pruitt was clearly impressed with this, saying that it was "very flexible for a big guy", while bringing his knees to his chest revealed what was termed, "huge glute [gluteal] flexibility," namely a right leg reading of 130 degrees and a left leg of 135. His glute strength was judged by Pruitt to be 'bulletproof'.
Like the other riders on the Saxo Bank team, Cancellara will this year be using Specialized's Body Geometry shoes. His size 44.5 footwear had the standard 1.5 mm Varus Wedge slope built in, angling the feet slightly from the horizontal plane.
One on his road bike, Pruitt checked his symmetry and existing position. Cancellara was seen to have a tendency to sit with his right hip slightly forward, and to roll his right knee inwards under pressure; an additional 1.5mm shim was suggested for the shoe on that side and that, plus a recommended change to the more supportive blue Specialized insoles, led to a straighter tracking of his knee.
The aforementioned boost for Cancellara was the news that due to his flexibility and strength, his time trial position can actually be set lower than it currently is. Pruitt favours three settings for time trials; the lowest, most aerodynamic is for prologues, the intermediate is for time trials up to an hour long, and the highest is for anything longer than that. Cancellara's current position actually fits into this third category, and so he can go lower (and become more aero) with no loss in power. The expected increase in speed is good news for him, and bad for his time trial rivals.
Overall, Pruitt was very impressed. "You are truly made to be a time trialist," he told the Olympic champion.
Full article and pictures: http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2009/features/saxo_bank_BGfit109
Fabian Cancellara - a study in strength and flexibility
Olympic time trial champion Fabian Cancellara made a clear impression on Pruitt, with the American proclaiming after the medical assessment and initial bike fit that, "I have learned a lot about the reason for this guy's success in the last few minutes". The reason for his praise? Cancellara's considerable flexibility and strength, which enable him to comfortably hold an aerodynamic tuck during time trials. Of the Saxo Bank riders seen, Cancellara seemed to impress Pruitt most, biomechanically; in fact, he had some good news for the Swiss TT specialist after the examination.
As is always the case, the BG assessment started off with an examination of the rider off the bike. Cancellara was judged to have good shoulder strength, and was then asked to touch his toes; he did more than that, putting the palms of his hands flat on the ground and earning praise from the assessor. His leg length was found to be equal.
He was then asked to lie on his back, straighten his leg and raise it upwards towards the vertical; he was found to have 85 degrees of angle on the right leg, with three more on the left. Pruitt was clearly impressed with this, saying that it was "very flexible for a big guy", while bringing his knees to his chest revealed what was termed, "huge glute [gluteal] flexibility," namely a right leg reading of 130 degrees and a left leg of 135. His glute strength was judged by Pruitt to be 'bulletproof'.
Like the other riders on the Saxo Bank team, Cancellara will this year be using Specialized's Body Geometry shoes. His size 44.5 footwear had the standard 1.5 mm Varus Wedge slope built in, angling the feet slightly from the horizontal plane.
One on his road bike, Pruitt checked his symmetry and existing position. Cancellara was seen to have a tendency to sit with his right hip slightly forward, and to roll his right knee inwards under pressure; an additional 1.5mm shim was suggested for the shoe on that side and that, plus a recommended change to the more supportive blue Specialized insoles, led to a straighter tracking of his knee.
The aforementioned boost for Cancellara was the news that due to his flexibility and strength, his time trial position can actually be set lower than it currently is. Pruitt favours three settings for time trials; the lowest, most aerodynamic is for prologues, the intermediate is for time trials up to an hour long, and the highest is for anything longer than that. Cancellara's current position actually fits into this third category, and so he can go lower (and become more aero) with no loss in power. The expected increase in speed is good news for him, and bad for his time trial rivals.
Overall, Pruitt was very impressed. "You are truly made to be a time trialist," he told the Olympic champion.