By Cadence Performance Founder and Olympic Silver Medalist, Brian WaltonWhat a difference a couple of days make! The initial mountain stages have turned out to be harder than expected, with high temperatures, crashes, and aggressive riding, and it has all taken a toll on the field. The riders have all been saying the same thing – It’s tough out there! – and you could see it in their eyes that they’ve been working. In the end, this cumulative fatigue and hard aggressive racing only helps the strongest guys in the field. At this point, it’s very obvious that this has become a two horse race.
In an instant, Lance went from Tour contender to riding out his final Tour as Super Domestique. As one of my athletes put it, it’s “Father Time 1, Lance 0!” In that race, not even Lance Armstrong is going to get the result. The inevitable finish line is upon him. We can debate the specifics of his current standing for the next 10 years without coming to a consensus. Call it bad luck, lack of focus, whatever. But the bottom line is that for at least seven years, Lance was always at the front of the pack! He never crashed except for a musette being thrown into his wheel by a spectator! Not even on his crash-avoidance, off-road, grass-riding, mountain downhill did he crash his bike! A record like that isn’t coming from seven years of having good luck. It’s a record built on the extra gifts and mental clarity demonstrated by the athlete in his prime. And they are now gone.
Whether he is mentally tired and lost his focus for a split second, or is just unfamiliar sitting back a few more wheels in the pack; it really doesn’t matter. Unable to put himself in his familiar position amongst the peloton, he instead has found himself in situations where he needed to deal with things that never were issues before. Simple. It’s sad to see the end of an era, but man has he treated us to some incredible memories in the month of July.
Another hard luck story of the Tour is Cadel Evans (BMC). Cadel went from joys of being number one, straight to tears when he revealed after he lost the yellow jersey that he had been riding that stage with a broken bone in his arm from a crash the previous day. Unbelievable! I don’t think Cadel would have won the Tour this year, but he sure would have made it even more dynamic. I’m impressed with Cadel’s form this year, and not because of the results. I see some changes in his style of riding, and I can say with authority it is because of some coaching assistance he received following last year’s tour. I was personally tapped to lend a hand with his coaching, and though it never came to fruition between the two of us, I’m happy to see that he’s been positively influenced by his coach.
Speaking of coaching, let me share a couple of quick thoughts using Cadel as an example. In order for an athlete to improve, I look at the single greatest current limiter. I then focus the individual’s training on their specific goals, and take into account how that one significant limiter – along with a few other variables – fits into the progression towards those goals. In the case of Cadel I feel his limiter is his climbing leg speed. Cadel is one of the strongest men in the field – maybe the strongest – but he relies too heavily on his muscular strength by pushing big gears and riding in and out of the saddle. Over the course of a three week stage race, the muscular system recovers much slower and causes greater fatigue than does the cardiovascular system, which is more significantly utilized by maintaining a higher leg speed with lighter gearing. Keep in mind that it is a careful balancing act between these two energy systems. While you never want to turn an athlete such as Evans (let’s say 80-90rpm guy for discussion purposes) into someone like Armstrong (in form about 100-110rpm), you do, as a coach, want an athlete like Cadel to “shift” the RPM’s slightly higher in order to maximize the cardiovascular benefits. This would go a long way towards improving what I see as one of Cadel’s limiters at the moment. Might not seem like much, but to do it effectively would mean subtle changes to his training, and could make a significant enough impact to get the result he’s looking for. In other words, WIN THE TOUR!
Back to the race…so much drama and we are not even half way!! Two questions remain. Question One…will it be Schleck or Contador in yellow in Paris? My head says Contador in yellow unless Schleck can put two plus minutes into him before the 51km time trial on the penultimate stage. But after the Col de Madeleine and Andy’s burst attacks, I don’t see him putting any serious chinks into Alberto’s armor. If Andy has got the horse power, he’ll need to find an opportunity on one of the climbs to REALLY commit for 4-5km’s, and just try to ride Contador off his wheel. The difference is minimal between the two, and this is the only strategy that I feel will work man to man. Can Andy Schleck just ride Alberto Contador off their wheel? No one’s been able to do it in the last few years! So we’ll have to see!
And Question Two…who’s in for 3rd place? It’s wide open between Sammy Sanchez currently in 3rd, all the way down to Carlos Sastre in 15th. Best of the rest. Sorry Lance fans, but you have to draw the line somewhere and it’s next too impossible for 12 guys to falter in these current positions. Enjoy, there is still so much racing to go!!
Stay tuned for more of Brian Walton’s perspective on the Tour and your chance to win great prizes!