Why cant Cav climb?
I always assumed sprinters were big chaps and thats why they struggled on climbs. But Cav isnt that big, so whats the difference, physically, between a climber and a sprinter?
Is it to do with natural ability and amount of fast twitch / slow twitch fibres? What training that creates that burst of power then limits sustained power on a climb? Is it that a sprinter carries more muscle mass and is heavier for a given height; a pure climber minimising weight to the max, like Ras weighing his food and removing stickers from the bike? I suppose a sprinter has more anerobic strength??
Is it to do with natural ability and amount of fast twitch / slow twitch fibres? What training that creates that burst of power then limits sustained power on a climb? Is it that a sprinter carries more muscle mass and is heavier for a given height; a pure climber minimising weight to the max, like Ras weighing his food and removing stickers from the bike? I suppose a sprinter has more anerobic strength??
<hr><font>The trick is not MINDING that it hurts.</font>
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Haynes wrote:I always assumed sprinters were big chaps and thats why they struggled on climbs. But Cav isnt that big, so whats the difference, physically, between a climber and a sprinter?
Is it to do with natural ability and amount of fast twitch / slow twitch fibres? What training that creates that burst of power then limits sustained power on a climb? Is it that a sprinter carries more muscle mass and is heavier for a given height; a pure climber minimising weight to the max, like Ras weighing his food and removing stickers from the bike? I suppose a sprinter has more anerobic strength??
Blinkin' eck, talk about answering your own question! I'll be using this to talk knowledgeably in the pub tomorrow...___________________
Strava is not Zen.0 -
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Haynes wrote:I always assumed sprinters were big chaps and thats why they struggled on climbs. But Cav isnt that big, so whats the difference, physically, between a climber and a sprinter?
Is it to do with natural ability and amount of fast twitch / slow twitch fibres? What training that creates that burst of power then limits sustained power on a climb? Is it that a sprinter carries more muscle mass and is heavier for a given height; a pure climber minimising weight to the max, like Ras weighing his food and removing stickers from the bike? I suppose a sprinter has more anerobic strength??
By riding in the slow group he's saving his condition for more productive work like winning sprints on other stages.
Chris Hoy rode Alpe d'Huez in the Etape 1 or 2 years ago and acquitted himself quite well compared to average sportive riders though slower than the good ones. His ride is documented in Cycling Weekly of that date. Although he said it was the hardest thing he'd done it's obviously not true when you see the state of kilo riders when they finish their event.0 -
Yeahbut.................the pain only lasts a little while in the kilo whereas Etape is more of an all-day agonyMichuel wrote:Although he said it was the hardest thing he'd done it's obviously not true when you see the state of kilo riders when they finish their event.
Think you hit the nail on the head with the slow-twitch vs fast-twitch muscle fibre thingy - he just doesn't have climbing legs.0 -
He's still quite big, with chunky legs. He's not a lean build like Seb Chavanel or even Freire. He came in late yesterday because he crashed, got injured and lost time, maybe he would have finished with the "grupetto" if he didn't crash.0
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The term 'non climber' is a bit misleading when you consider Cavandish finished yesterdays stage about 44 mins faster the the winner of the Etape the week before.Sometimes you have to lose yourself
before you can find anything.0 -
Following some amateurish research that I hope is right....my conclusion :
The winner of the etape du tour, on an almost identical course and presumably a top semi-pro type who has been training all year specifically for one day's effort finished in 5hrs 37mins
Cavendish finished that stage in 4hrs 53mins, on day ten of a three week grand tour.
Compared to 99.9% of cyclists, he is a rocket up-hill.
(How Piepoli and the top boys did it in 4hrs 19mins is beyond comprehension)0 -
I didn't do the Etape but from what I gather...
Etape do Tour was 169.2km
Yesterday's Stage was 156.0km
The "winner" of L'Etape du Tour would have probably had to do a fair bit of work on the front. Don't remember seeing Cav pulling the pelaton along.Rich0 -
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7900 of whom don't know how to ride in a straight lineandyp wrote:They would have got to sit in an 8000 rider peloton instead. 0 -
oily sailor wrote:
why do bad things have to happen to nice people?
anyone know who kicked it,idl ike to get my nomination for european footballer of the year in early0 -
the guy trains almost exclusively for short sprints and stamina on the flat not hill climbing
. If you train as a pole vaulter you wouldn't expect to be able to do the hop step and jump brilliantly as well would you!? :roll:0 -
As peanut said sprinters have far more fast twitch muscle fibre for power and accleration, climbers have more different muscle for endurance. cav still gets up the climbs because like all pro cyclists he is supremely fit but he is made to look worse than he is by riders who if it came down to a sprint would be nowhere. Its all about compromise.It’s the most beautiful sport in the world but it’s governed by ***ts who have turned it into a crock of ****.0
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wicked wrote:As peanut said sprinters have far more fast twitch muscle fibre for power and accleration, climbers have more different muscle for endurance. cav still gets up the climbs because like all pro cyclists he is supremely fit but he is made to look worse than he is by riders who if it came down to a sprint would be nowhere. Its all about compromise.
But wicked, Haynes said that not Peanut. Peanut said Cav trained exclusively for sprints.0 -
Clearly you've never trained to ride a competitive kilo before.Bronzie wrote:
Yeahbut.................the pain only lasts a little while in the kilo whereas Etape is more of an all-day agonyMichuel wrote:Although he said it was the hardest thing he'd done it's obviously not true when you see the state of kilo riders when they finish their event.0
