With Training Peaks publishing the power profiles for some of the professionals riding the Tour de France this year, I’ve taken some time to look over their profiles to break it down and give you a bit more understanding of it. Here are my analysis of both Matthew Hayman – Mitchelton-Scott and Taylor Phinney (EF Education – Drapac) during the 195km Stage 4 to Sarzeau.
Stage 4 was 195km to Sarzeau. There was an intermediary sprint at 98km, with the Bonus sprint 157km mark. Between the two sprints at the 136km mark there is a a Cat 4 climb the Cote de Saint-Jean-la-Poterie that is 800m long at 7.8%.
The day was a relatively mundane stage where a breakaway of four riders got out to 8 minutes at one point. BMC controlled the pace and towards the end of the stage the sprinters teams stepped up to assist to close the gap. The catch occured in the last 10km. There was a crash with a bit over 5km to go in the stage. Some riders like Rigoberto Uran (EF Education – Drapac) got caught behind it. The majority of his team mates stopped and then rode him back up to the peloton allowing him to finish with the Same Time as the stage winner, who was Columbian Fernando GAVIRIA of Quick-Step Floors.
Matthew Hayman – Mitchelton-Scott
Is a 40 year old Australian cyclist who has been a pro since 2000. He has ridden the Tour de France 3 times previously and done 11 Grand Tours. He is currently ranked 958th in the UCI rankings and his biggest race result was winning Paris – Roubaix in 2016. His role within the team is as a domestique.
Matthew Hayman rode solidly for the last 60km probably part of the chase to catch the breakaway riders or simply because the intensity went up by the sprinters teams to catch the breakaway riders.
Matthew finished 55th with the same time as the stage winner.
With an FTP of ~382 Watts, the longest Matthew spent at or above his FTP was 5-6 minutes. His Normalised Power (NP) was 290 Watts for the whole ride but this was 341 Watts for the last 60km. He had a Variability Index (VI) of 1.19 with an Intensity Factor (IF) of 0.90 for the last 60km compared to 1.29 and 0.76 respectively for the entire stage.
Taylor Phinney – EF Education – Drapac
A 28 year old American who has been a professional cyclist since 2009. He has ridden five grand tours including the Tour de France last year. Coming from a strong pursuit background on the track, Taylor specialises in Time Trials.
As with Matthew above, Taylor rode solidly from the Cat 4 KOM climb, however he got caught up behind the crash with five and a bit kilometres to go. From here he cruised to the line finishing in 157th place 3:48 down on the stage winner.
With an FTP of ~420 Watts, the longest Taylor spent at or above his FTP was 5-6 minutes. His Normalised Power (NP) was 298 Watts for the whole ride but this was 362 Watts for the last portion. He had a Variability Index (VI) of 1.19 with an Intensity Factor (IF) of 0.86 for the last portion compared to 1.31 and 0.71 respectively for the entire stage.
Stage 4 Overview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgKAaauiH5o&t=2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtdBwE57Kfg
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I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi – Endurance Sports Consultant.
I specialise in assisting first timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.
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