The Athlete Clinic

Gap to Pinerolo – 179 km

 

http://data.srmlive.de/TDF/

You can view the telemetry for a number of riders live!

Today’s stage rises all the way to Sestrieres at 117km and then the riders enjoy a 50km spin Villar Perosa where they start the final climb up to Cote de Pramartino before the final descent to the finish. I’m sure we will see another breakaway group today. Maybe Jeremy Roy can finally get a stage win.

The main contenders will again be watching each other today and the prediction for the finish is that they will all finish in close proximity of each other. As the tour moves closer to the Individual Time Trial (TT) it’s quite worrying for the like of the Schlecks’s, Basso, Contador and Sanchez not to be putting more of an effort in to try to put some time into Evans. The final TT is of a rolling nature an is by no way suited to the climbers. When Evans gets into his rhythm and with his TT power he will put minutes into these guys and with the other contenders being already up to 2 minutes for Basso there is no hope. It’s looking like Evan’s year, I think all his bad luck has been used up and it’s payback time for him.

Todays weather is 18C at the start an 27C at the finish with a drop to 8C at altitude and some slight mist. It’s promised a dry day with little wind.

L’Equipe and a few other papers this morning have announced that  Kolobnev’s B-sample is positive which will earn him a sacking by his team and probably a police raid on the team bus/hotel, his home and a lot more hassle. Katusha also fine their riders a multiple of 5 times their salary if the give a positive.

Juan Antonio Flecha’s SRM Data

• Total Time = 3:45
• TSS = 266
• KJ= 4029
• Average Power = 297 Watts. Avg Normalized Power* = 353
• Avg HR = 135
• Max HR = 171
• Mean Maximal 1-minute power = 614w
• Max Maximal 5-minute power = 469w
• Mean Maximal 20-minute power = 397w
• Avg Cadence = 87 rpm
• Avg Speed = 26.5 mph

Click here for Juan Antonio Flecha’s full SRM Data file:

https://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/JXOWB6PBZQQE3VOQNJKI6B7S6Y

Chris Anker Sorensen’s SRM Data

• Weight- 64kg
• Functional Threshold Power- 400w
• Total Time = 5:16
• TSS =303
• Average Power = 259 Watts. Avg Normalized Power* =303
• Avg HR = 145
• Max HR = 175
• Mean Maximal 1-minute power =488
• Mean Max 5-minute power =408
• Mean Maximal 20-minute power =376
• Avg Cadence = 87rpm
• Avg Speed = 19.6mph

You can view Chris’s full SRM file for the Stage 14 here: https://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/TBYZMGCPTFYXMHTY3PJ3R7DWPQ

Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Gap – 162.5 km

 

http://flv.valloire.net/valloire/pano/index-valloire-ete4.htm
Galibier in 360degrees great perspectives

Averaging out each day on the Tour de France a typical rider will burn between 5,000 and 6,000 calories. This is made up of 3,000 to 4,500 on the bike and 1,500 to 2,000 off the bike i.e. during massage, dinner, stretching and sleeping etc.

Each and everyday the riders diety needs are tended to by a dietician or nutritional expert. The whole object of the day is to try to get calories into the stomach without causing distress to the stomach. One of the ways to do this is simple, give the riders what they like to eat. Some like pasta at 7.00am others like cereal and others could eat some rice or noodles. The breakfast is usually eaten 3 to 4 hrs before the start of a stage. On the way to the stage start the riders will hydrate well and consume some special home-brew shakes which will provide some small amounts of protein and  good amounts slow release carbohydrates. Even before the riders are on their bike they have consumed between 1,000 and 1,500 calories. The main idea before the stage is to carbohydrate load and keep protein low. Protein will sit in the stomach during a stage and take up valuable carbohydrate space, it also takes longer to digest. Protein will eventually be broken down and used as a carbohydrate but only when existing fuel has been exhausted. A riders does not want to be in this condition.

During the stage a rider will consistently process food at a rate of 250 to 300 calories per hour. If a rider is riding in the peleton he might be burning 600 calories and hour or if he is up the road in the escapees he could be burning 900 calories an hour, As one can see these numbers don’t add up. 300 in and 900 out leaves 600 deficit per hour. This shows how important it is that a riders consumes food while on the bike aswell as off. If a rider forgets to eat his glycogen levels will drop and he could see as much as 10 – 15% decrease in power output. If this happens once it is not to severe as a rider can recuperate but if it occurs again most riders in a stage race like the tour will start to lose performance for the rest of the event as their bodies can’t physically play catchup.

Lunch on the bike is normally half way through a stage or sometime before or after depending on the parcours. For those of you new to The Tour the answer to that question your thinking is no!, the rider does not get off the bike and chillout in a cafe. The nutritional experts and soigneurs make up food bags for the riders call musette’s. These contain iso-drinks, gels, food parcels (homemade rice cakes or even peanut butter rolls with ham and cheese) both salty and sweet to the individual riders choice. These musette’s will be handed out at the side of the road during designated feeding zones as indicated by the tour organisers. By lunch the riders are hovering around 2,500 to 3,000 calories consumed.

From lunch to the finish the riders will keep eating from their musette stocks or even get other food from the supporting team cars to keep them going. In the last 15 km some riders will often start to consume some recovery products such as maybe a small protein dirink and some protein bars to get the recovery started early. The earlier this begins the better for the next days racing.

Once finished the riders will weigh themselves to see how much liquids they have lost. Some riders could be 1 – 2kg lighter after a stage which is all due to liquid loss and not fat loss. The rider will then ensure that he consumes this amount in liquids and more to make sure that he is fully rehydrated for the next stage. Each kilo lost in body weight is equal to 1 liter of water so a rider losing 2 kg will need to consume 4 liters to fully hydrate. Again these volumes give us an idea of the stress the digestive system is under when these professional cyclist perform. The drinks used for rehydration after the stage will contain proteins and carbohydrates but mostly proteins for muscle repair and recovery. Egg based dishes with rice are also available in most busses post the stage.

Dinner will be consumed once back at the hotel (usually around 8:30) with most food coming from low G.I. products to avoid digestive distress. vegetables are a good source of vital minerals and antioxidants. Food content percentages will look like 30:30:40 usually. Fat, Protein and Carbs in that order. Steak, Rice, Pasta, Noodles etc.

Saint-Gaudens to Plateau de Beille – 168.5 km

 

Todays stage is either up or down. Up only will give 5500m or 16,000ftof climbing. Their might be a foot or two at the top of one of the climbs but other than that its either climbing or decending. This stage is going to be the first major test for all the favourites. Whoever is together in the final today will likely be fighting it out on the road to Paris, As was said yesterday the peleton seems to be quite fatiqued and today will show who is really suffering and who is playing the waiting game up until now.

On days like today the riders will be up in the 8,000 – 10,000kilocal range so it id vital that they eat and drink regulary during the stage and also that they start the recovery process before the end of the stage by getting some protein bars in.

http://data.srmlive.de/TDF/

You can view the telemetry for a number of riders live!

Juan Antonio Flecha’s SRM Data

• Total Time = 3:55
• TSS =242
• Average Power = 265 Watts. Avg Normalized Power* = 330
• Avg HR = 129
• Max HR = 163
• Mean Maximal 1-minute power = 558w
• Max Maximal 5-minute power = 460w
• Mean Maximal 20-minute power = 381w
• Avg Cadence = 82 rpm
• Avg Speed =  23.9mph

Click https://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/VTXPKSTYUYCHXSKEBJ5K4WHP2U to view Juan Antonio Flecha’s Full SRM Data File from Stage 13

Stage 12 SRM Data

• Total Time = 6:43
• TSS =303
• Average Power = 230 Watts. Avg Normalized Power* = 282
• Avg HR = 118
• Max HR =159
• Mean Maximal 1-minute power = 457w
• Max Maximal 5-minute power = 418w
• Mean Maximal 20-minute power = 394w
• Avg Cadence = 76 rpm
• Avg Speed = 19.7 mph
• 6000 kilocalories burned
• Mac Speed of 62.6 mph or 100.16kph
• 13,000 feet climbed
• endurance zone 235 -320 watts

Click https://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/GDESNDOVIP25IWGK3AS5H2KZGA to view Juan Antonio Flecha’s Full SRM Data File

Pau  to Lourdes – 152.5 km

Todays sprint prime should see the likes of Cavendish again doing his utmost to gain some valuable point in this classification. A 3rd and 4th cat climb stand in his way but I’m sure his HTC will ride full gas to get him to the prime as he will not be in contention after the Aubisque. Gilbert should be in contention after the Aubisque to pick up points in the classification and if he has any difficulty on the Aubisque he will no doubt ride hard to get back to the leader for some valuable points.

The last 30km of the stage are down hill and if a small group can stay away until the top of the Aubisque they will have every chance in making it to the finish in Lourdes ahead of the peleton. Looking at yesterdays stage it seems that the peleton are tired from the first weeks racing, there is something lethargic about the riders. Maybe all the crashed, bad weather and the general feel of nervousness has taken its toll already.

With such a distance to the finish from the top of the Aubisque I can’t see any of the GC riders taking any time on each other unless one team is able to keep some domestique for that last 30 km.

 

Pau Lourdes – 152.5 km

 

 

http://data.srmlive.de/TDF/

You can view the telemetry for a number of riders live!