Brownlees training with Sky

ocdupalais

I was being disingenuous with the cycling leg being a "breather" comment - but before we get told to talk about pro cycling, or shut the fukc up (let's not push this new season of goodwill)… so what's being said is that it's not really in the interests of anyone to break ahead in the swim because they'll be brought back by a draughting group on the bike (and potentially tire themselves for their weaker disciplines) and that the stronger cyclists will have difficulty breaking away from the stronger runners who only need to keep them pegged at a safe distance in a draughting group, because they know they'll over take them in the run…?

I'd imagine that having a hilly bike leg would help shake things up a bit?

r0bh

OCDuPalais wrote:

I was being disingenuous with the cycling leg being a "breather" comment - but before we get told to talk about pro cycling, or shut the fukc up (let's not push this new season of goodwill)… so what's being said is that it's not really in the interests of anyone to break ahead in the swim because they'll be brought back by a draughting group on the bike (and potentially tire themselves for their weaker disciplines) and that the stronger cyclists will have difficulty breaking away from the stronger runners who only need to keep them pegged at a safe distance in a draughting group, because they know they'll over take them in the run…?

I'd imagine that having a hilly bike leg would help shake things up a bit?

The swim is critical; miss the front pack and your race can be over after 20 minutes.

The Brownlees and Gomez hate flat courses as it neutralizes their strength on the bike. The trouble is most of the WTS rounds are in big cities where finding hills can be tricky. They did experiment this year with the Kitzbuhel race which was basically a hill climb on the bike, and Alistair rode away from everyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0axb617E290

okgo

OCDuPalais wrote:

That these guys can generate such power with these bodies is an affront on so many levels - bearing in mind so many of the courses they compete on are pretty flat, surely they'd be a little closer to the physique of, say, Tony Martin or Cancellara…?


Imagine how good they'll be when they grow up.

Its a runners sport, hence the competitors that are good looks like runners

CPEX

Wallace and Gromit wrote:

I would think that a bit extra bodyfat would help swimming, as it aids bouyancy. )

Can't see any extra body fat here

adamfo

OCDuPalais wrote:

That these guys can generate such power with these bodies is an affront on so many levels - bearing in mind so many of the courses they compete on are pretty flat, surely they'd be a little closer to the physique of, say, Tony Martin or Cancellara…?


Imagine how good they'll be when they grow up.

Duh... Who looks the more 'athletic', Javier Gomez the 2013 World Triathlon champ or the Brit boys ?
I would say the man in front at the Olympics.

DeVlaeminck

madasahattersley wrote:

OCDuPalais wrote:

That these guys can generate such power with these bodies is an affront on so many levels - bearing in mind so many of the courses they compete on are pretty flat, surely they'd be a little closer to the physique of, say, Tony Martin or Cancellara…?

Clearly you've never seen Martin in the flesh? He's just a thin man. Yeah he looks pretty brutish on the bike, but so what?

Does this stickman look like he can generate 450 watts for an hour? Because he can.



Obviously muscle bulk, muscle strength, body weight, body volume etc has absolutely nothing to do with performance in aerobic endurance sports like cycling and triathlon. If they weren't then Arnold Schwarzenegger would have won Paris Roubaix back in '71

I would guess that there is a correlation between size and power output in pro cyclists. The best testers tend to be fairly big if not in bulk then height compared to the average pro. The most bulky are probably more naturally suited to sprinting - maybe because more fast twitch muscle fibres predisposes a rider to bulking up (relatively) but it's rare to find a short and skinny rider winning time trials.

wallace_and_gromit

CPEX wrote:

Wallace and Gromit wrote:

I would think that a bit extra bodyfat would help swimming, as it aids bouyancy. )

Can't see any extra body fat here

Phelps was more of a sprinter though. I know he did the 400m IM, but most of his success was at the 100m/200m range. And I think your photo is from the super-bouyant suit era, where the "bodybuilders" had a lot of success as their extra bulk could be compensated for by the suits. Some of the top sprint freeestylers of the supersuit era - e.g. Alain Bernard - were built like tanks.

This is a link to a picture of Sun Yang the current 1500m Olympic champ and world record holder, who's got a more typical distance freestyler build. He's certainly not a porker, but looks more "normal" than a GT GC contender or a distance runner.

http://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/image ... &fr=mcafee

CPEX

Yep you make fair point Wallace and Gromit, agreed

wallace_and_gromit

CPEX wrote:

Yep you make fair point Wallace and Gromit, agreed

Thanks - I shall frame your comment!

napoleond

Wallace and Gromit wrote:

CPEX wrote:

Yep you make fair point Wallace and Gromit, agreed

Thanks - I shall frame your comment!

:shock: It's against forum policy to have multiple accounts