Aldo Sassi on Basso and Evans for the Vuelta

iainf72

Cyclingnews just posted this.


"Both can sustain high efforts of roughly 6 watts per kilo for thirty to forty minutes. One has a much higher maximum heart rate and blood lactate concentration at the anaerobic threshold. They are similar engines with similar power and capacity but they work in slightly different ways. They can both sustain very hard training loads. Though, of course, each has their own preference when it comes to training."

Which one is which do you reckon?

Bronzie

iainf72 wrote:

"One has a much higher maximum heart rate and blood lactate concentration at the anaerobic threshold."[/i]

Which one is which do you reckon?

I'd say that's most likely referring to Basso..........Evans tends to be a bit more of a diesel. Mind you, at the Dauphine we saw a new petrol engined version of Cadel with his repeated attacks. And the 2009 version of Basso is a far cry from the 2007 version.

In summary then, I haven't a clue.

iainf72

I'd agree. I seem to remember seeing some data from Basso this year and he had a stupidly high heart rate.

Kléber

Basso was riding more like a diesel in the Giro this year, or at least it looked like he was riding to his power meter and not pushing things beyond his limit, avoiding abrupt accelerations.

Evans has a reputation as a wheelsucker but he's the guy who can latch onto someone like Contador's wheel (see 2007 Tour), something few others can do.

So it's hard to say who is who.

Again it is odd to see two top riders and rivals coached by the same man. Which rider pays Sassi more?

iainf72

Kléber wrote:

Basso was riding more like a diesel in the Giro this year, or at least it looked like he was riding to his power meter and not pushing things beyond his limit, avoiding abrupt accelerations.

And that's what they've been working on. I suspect he's going to be very strong in the Vuelta - He looked good in the 1 day races he was doing leading up to it. And looked like he was doing some hard training in Poland.

Both trained by Sassi and they both seem like quite solitary creatures.

DaveyL

They both like dogs as well.

iainf72

DaveyL wrote:

They both like dogs as well.

They both have lovely wives too.

You wouldn't find that with cat owners.

Bronzie

Kléber wrote:

Basso was riding more like a diesel in the Giro this year, or at least it looked like he was riding to his power meter and not pushing things beyond his limit

From a recent CN article it sounds like he may have ditched the powermeter for now:

Ivan Basso wrote:

“In summer I was able to focus on areas for improvement, such as changes of pace,” he added. “Finally, having regained the feeling with the dynamics of racing, I have chosen to rely on personal feelings rather than scientific data.”