S
Stewart Fleming
Guest
Mark Hickey wrote:
> There's certainly no doubt that even if the runners DO come from behind and just catch the soloist
> at the line, the soloist will have put out much more energy over the last one and a half legs
> (hence, will have had to have been a better athlete to start with, and would have easily won had
> it not been a draft legal race).
Your analysis excludes the difference between aerobic and anaerobic energy systems.
Let's say we have a lap course that includes a climb. The bike goes round that course lets say 5
times. An athlete who makes a break on the hill by putting in a max effort and then recovers back to
sustain the gap with aerobic levels will have an advantage. If they do that repeatedly, let's say
over the middle laps, they only need to work as hard as the others in the chasing pack for the
remainder of the race.
If the pack never gets organized, the gap will not close. In fact, if the pack is not smart, tries
to chase on the hill and doesn't recover as quickly as those out front, they could quite easily lose
ground. This is where a triathlete with road-race experience can benefit.
A successful road-race attack goes something like: 1) violent break from pack (high speed relative)
2) pursuit phase (sustained pace to open the gap) 3) pace the pack (match speeds). An unsuccessful
attack omits the second element. First two elements involve anerobic components for the attack, but
it is likely that an elite athlete can carry out the sustained pace either at or in worst case
slightly above LT and in the third element is only really working as hard as the rest of the pack.
Watch duathlon and triathlon world championships very closely this year since they are both based
around what I would describe as "road race" courses. If you are preparing for either event, better
be ready to train on the hills... STF
> There's certainly no doubt that even if the runners DO come from behind and just catch the soloist
> at the line, the soloist will have put out much more energy over the last one and a half legs
> (hence, will have had to have been a better athlete to start with, and would have easily won had
> it not been a draft legal race).
Your analysis excludes the difference between aerobic and anaerobic energy systems.
Let's say we have a lap course that includes a climb. The bike goes round that course lets say 5
times. An athlete who makes a break on the hill by putting in a max effort and then recovers back to
sustain the gap with aerobic levels will have an advantage. If they do that repeatedly, let's say
over the middle laps, they only need to work as hard as the others in the chasing pack for the
remainder of the race.
If the pack never gets organized, the gap will not close. In fact, if the pack is not smart, tries
to chase on the hill and doesn't recover as quickly as those out front, they could quite easily lose
ground. This is where a triathlete with road-race experience can benefit.
A successful road-race attack goes something like: 1) violent break from pack (high speed relative)
2) pursuit phase (sustained pace to open the gap) 3) pace the pack (match speeds). An unsuccessful
attack omits the second element. First two elements involve anerobic components for the attack, but
it is likely that an elite athlete can carry out the sustained pace either at or in worst case
slightly above LT and in the third element is only really working as hard as the rest of the pack.
Watch duathlon and triathlon world championships very closely this year since they are both based
around what I would describe as "road race" courses. If you are preparing for either event, better
be ready to train on the hills... STF