Just how hard is the Tour de France?

From the Wired article:

According to Lim's data published at Bicycling.com, over the course of the Tour's 21 stages, Landis generated a mind-blowing 70,914 kilojoules of work, which means he burned about 74,000 calories -- about 133 Big Macs' worth. But even more impressive than the total amount of power he generated is the peak power that he sustained. On his way to a ninth-place finish, Landis spent nearly four hours of the Tour at a power output level of more than 500 watts -- that's a flat-out sprint to most recreational riders, who can only generate that sort of power for seconds at a time. For professionals, it's the ability to ride at this nearly superhuman level that separates champions from the rest of the pack.

Good gravy.

posted by worldcup2002 at 11:54 PM - reply - flag:

I'm almost speechless. I could spend days poring over this stuff ... I wish I had known about it when the tour was actually going on.

posted by Amateur at 08:20 AM - reply - flag:

Obviously it's not that hard for Americans, specifically Lance. I love that we have owned that sport for a chunk of a decade. Not that the French werent already used to losing in general. I heard there are 9 different ways to say "I give up" in French.

posted by BubbaGeoffery at 10:43 AM - reply - flag:

Yeah, cos being an American is what won it for him alright. I'm sure all the time he spent living in Spain and training in France actually held him back. What's the French for "It took the septics two years to work out there was a war on"?

posted by JJ at 11:03 AM - reply - flag:

JJ, consider the source.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 11:29 AM - reply - flag:

If it was possible to reach across the internet to bitch-slap someone, I'd do it now.

posted by dusted at 11:47 AM - reply - flag:

it's not worth your while dusted... use that wattage to climb a steep hill instead :)

posted by JohnSFO at 12:10 PM - reply - flag:

You know how it is, JJ. There are just so many Americans willing to show up late and claim victory after someone else does all the work.

posted by rodgerd at 04:41 PM - reply - flag:

Bubba said: Obviously it's not that hard for Americans, specifically Lance. Yes, specifically Lance. As The Science of Lance points out:

From 1992 to 1999, the year of his first Tour de France win, Armstrong was able to increase his muscle efficiency by 8 percent through hard and dedicated training. Coyle says Armstrong is the only human who has been shown to change his muscle efficiency.

Whoa.

posted by worldcup2002 at 05:39 PM - reply - flag:

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

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