05:45 PM
04/25/24
04/25/24
June 02, 2010
Which is harder?: Comparing power meter data from the Tour de France and the Tour of California
Which is better, apples or oranges?
deflated is right, the ToC is a good race, but does not come out well when you start comparing it to grand tours.
posted by afx237vi at 06:13 PM on June 02, 2010
Wow. That reads like a paid advertisement for the Tour of California. The ToC was a training ride/sponsor obligation for 2/3rds of the teams - it is very difficult to take seriously any stage race where Andy Schleck finishes 36 minutes behind anyone, let alone Michael Rogers.
Other teams sent their B-squad while the rest of the team was at the Giro d'Italia - BMC had Hincapie at the ToC for local flavor while current World Chaampion Cadel Evans raced at the Giro.
The comparison between the 2010 ToC and 2009 Tour de France doesn't even make sense; the Tour stages they chose were mostly early race sprinters stages with a 35 km TTT thrown in, not exactly the hardest riding for the peloton.
And you can't tell me the Big Bear stage was hideously difficult, the final week of the Giro had 3 stages that made it look soft, the Zoncolan stage was brutal.
This turned into a bit of a rant but really the ToC is what it is, it doesn't need fluff like this.