The Kenyans are riding now!

There's a white Kenyan (Christopher Froome) who rode on the Tour; wonder how they compare with him.

Climbing is all about the power/weight ratio...how many Watts/kilo. Curious if they can thread the powerful yet lightweight needle just right.

Must be cheaper and more efficient to build a pool for lots to use then fly a couple guys to the Alps.

No excuses!

Those are phenomenal times. Yet, a 4 minute improvement for the faster of the two, to go from 43:35 to 39:40 would take a 15-20% increase in aerobic power. To put that into perspective, it's like saying someone who just ran a 44:00 15K is poised to challenge the guy who ran a 41:00 15K!

You heard it here first on letsrun.com

I remember the last year lance was in it, there was a thread on it and someone posted not exact qoute but close...

"Why do you even care? if someone bought 100 7,000 dollar bikes and dropped them in the african nations,kenya etc. there would be no race at all...they would be 5-6 mins ahead every day."

It is happening now...

If that truly wasn't 100 effort as it says, than they type of improvement is possible.

You've gotta figure a small improvement after just seeing the mountain a second time.

lruncyclist wrote:

Those are phenomenal times. Yet, a 4 minute improvement for the faster of the two, to go from 43:35 to 39:40 would take a 15-20% increase in aerobic power. To put that into perspective, it's like saying someone who just ran a 44:00 15K is poised to challenge the guy who ran a 41:00 15K!

True. Another thing to consider is that the Alpe d'Huez is done in the middle of the Tour, so riders are typically somewhat fatigued going into it. I don't mean to discredit the Kenyans, as they flew up the mountain, but it seems they still have a little ways to go.

Another thing to consider- would they even be able to produce enough power to stick with the peloton on the flat stages?

You're assumming the limitation is oxygen delivery. My guess is the limitation is peak cycling power which is quite trainable.

A 5.5L V02 is a dime a dozen in Kenya.

Assuming they aren't doping, and pretty much everyone above Sastre Was, then that is very impressive.

dsrunner wrote:

You're assumming the limitation is oxygen delivery. My guess is the limitation is peak cycling power which is quite trainable.

A 5.5L V02 is a dime a dozen in Kenya.

The limitation is not peak power. That's a limitation if you want to win a sprint. The pedal force requirement when at threshold is very low. The limitation is in fact VO2/DO2. That's why EPO, blood doping, etc. is kind of a big thing when it comes to climbing mountains...

43:35 is phenomenal up that climb though, no doubt about it. Experience plays a huge role in cycling though, those guys would have never made it to the stage where the ITT was contested up D'Huez.

Good grief, what makes you think Sastre is clean? He rode for years for Bjarne Riis, the sleazy drug cheat who runs CSC-Saxo Bank. Before that he rode for none other than Manolo Saiz of "Operacion Puerto" fame.

For those of you who don't know cycling, there is much debate whether this result is significant or not at all. First, the fastest ascents of the Alpe have all been done in the middle of a stage, not just as a pure time trial. The times that have been recorded are from the recent past, and the splits that have been recorded are from different points from the top (14.4 - 13.8 km).

These two riders raced just a time trial from 13.8 km out. Many things about this article are misleading, like where it says they would have placed 50th in the 2004 stage. I am not sure (it could be looked up) that the Uphill TT distance was the same that day, it was probably longer. Also, by that point in the Tour, maybe 150 riders are still racing. And all of them, except maybe the top 30 on GC are taking it easy as they are not shooting for GC and killing themselves will only yield a couple minutes benefit and they will be shot for the next few days.

See this link for some background on the fastest ever ascents of the Alpe:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpe_d%27Huez

You're right, they suck.

the Alp usually comes in the middle of the Tour by which point the riders have had a week of intense riding in their legs. they could have possibly done the prynees or some Alps before that stage. to go to the climb and just do that one stage, put up good numbers, and think africans are going to rule the sport is dumb. make them ride 800 miles in 7 days at a fast clip and on the 8th day let them climb the Alp. there is a reason the Tour is considered the hardest race in the world, not everyone with an above average lung capacity can wear yellow...

The only thing they have going for them right now is natural ability and a small amount of training. Now, add:

-teammates

-proper nutrition

-proper/intense training

-familiarity with the bike

-familiarity with the route

-EPO

-intensity of a race

-100% effort

You now have a race on your hands

The Alpe D'Huez time trail in the TDF did a bit more than the mountain. I believe they finished at the same spot as always. I am certan they road for 2-3 minutes on flat ground at the bottom first.

You can't compare these two performances. It's apples and oranges. Armstrong's time is AFTEr he rode for several weeks in the tour. These Kenyans did what? Rode 30 miles and then climed? Not the same. Have them ride hard for 20 days and then ride up the Huez.

[quote]your right wrote:

to go to the climb and just do that one stage, put up good numbers, and think africans are going to rule the sport is dumb. make them ride 800 miles in 7 days at a fast clip and on the 8th day let them climb the Alp. there is a reason the Tour is considered the hardest race in the world, not everyone with an above average lung capacity can wear yellow...[/quote

I agree so many factors come into play comparing this effort to being competitive at the level of the TDF is just stupid.

from personal experience i know one of the biggest mistakes runners turned riders make is pushing too big a gear. Now an uphill TT like these guys did it wouldn't matter as most riders use a lower cadence uphill.

When you come from a running background where you can't freewheel(coast) the little gears feel inefficient spinning 120 rpm. In a race on the flat in a pack youwillspin 120-130 for a few seconds & then coast to stay in the draft, if you keep pedalling you would run up the rider infront of you. Good riders will pedal only 30 percent of the race.

My problem was i felt i was doing too little and was losing fitness, so i matched my cycling exertion to what i experienced as a runner. So i ended up doing alot of intense solo efforts, I gained alot of power but lost my runners body and gained way too much muscle.

Luckily i became a pretty decent bike handler so i have had some success in short races on the track and also criteriums, i wouldbe hammered the second day of the tour.

The is so much more to racing than raw potential, the Colombians were always great climbers but notorious for being lousy bike handlers. When you have a bad rep guys will fight you off a wheel and do anything to keep from following you. So you get pushed around more than the other riders and end up crashing. To be able to ride successfully in the Tour takes years of bike handling experience and if people don't like you or think you might be a danger to them you will end up in the gutter.

There is a reason for this, though, an inexperienced rider has your life in his hands. If a guy crashes on a descent and takes you with him into a stone wall you could die(Fabio Casartelli)

it takes a lot more than climbing ability to win the tour. when's the last a 120 lb lightweight climber was in contention?

a clue to what it takes? examine elite cyclists legs; you have to be built more powerfully than an elite marathoner.