Why can't sprinters climb...

Dereck · Jul 12, 2010

It's something you'll soon learn for yourself, albeit at a much slower pace than in the Pro Tour ranks. Some of us can get up hills well, some of us regard moving from (lumpy) Maryland to (Utterly Dead Flat) Chicago as a sort of WOOOPEEE!!! moment.

It'll never change much. When I weighed 145lb and went a fair bit faster than I can now, especially if there was but a short distance between chequered flag and my position, I hated, loathed and detested going uphill. Now, many years and pounds added on, nothing's changed.

It's the same in, say, a Cavendish vs Contador comparison. Albeit while you wouldn't want to suggest to Cavendish that he's slow up a hill as you rode alongside him, you probably wouldn't see Contador pass you...

Much the same can be applied to any other discipline vs another. A TT rider has to dole out his/her energy to where it runs out five feet from the finish line over whatever the total distance is. A sprinter cuts the whole thing loose in a couple of hundred yards and runs out of steam five feet after the line - many have come second because they were convinced too early they'd won.

You could improve at some disciplines. Say, lose weight, train to maximise climbing ability. Practice the art of time trialling and train for strength to apply to that constant, metered output.

Sprinting. Easy - lose any fear you have, learn how to ride through gaps slightly narrower than your handlebars in the middle of a pack of heaving, swaying cyclists all set on hacking you into history, while avoiding pedals, bar ends, elbows, and other impedimenta. All at 30-odd MPH (normal people) to 40-odd (Cavendish, Petacchi, Farrar et al)

Okay, I doubt there's an app for that

D

JCavilia · Jul 12, 2010

Dereck said:
It's something you'll soon learn for yourself, albeit at a much slower pace than in the Pro Tour ranks. Some of us can get up hills well, some of us regard moving from (lumpy) Maryland to (Utterly Dead Flat) Chicago as a sort of WOOOPEEE!!! moment.

It'll never change much. When I weighed 145lb and went a fair bit faster than I can now, especially if there was but a short distance between chequered flag and my position, I hated, loathed and detested going uphill. Now, many years and pounds added on, nothing's changed.

D

Indeed, there are dicided personal preferences. I'm exactly the opposite of you. I love both climbing and descending. Flat rides bore me to tears. Thank god I discovered fixed gears a few years back to keep my flat commute interesting.

Hooben · Jul 12, 2010

mikefm101 said:
..Why can't sprinters climb, .or climbers sprint?Mike

If athletes could do anything...

skyliner1004 · Jul 12, 2010

Hooben said:
If athletes could do anything...

when did lance box? wtf

JimT · Jul 12, 2010

skyliner1004 said:
when did lance box? wtf

LMAO!!! your too funny....

Mr. Versatile · Jul 13, 2010

I'm a big guy and can't climb worth spit. Somebody recently described my sprint as glacial. Does that mean it's good?

dysfunction · Jul 13, 2010

Mr. Versatile said:
I'm a big guy and can't climb worth spit. Somebody recently described my sprint as glacial. Does that mean it's good?

so, like me you simply wear down the mountain.

and yea, you could say my climbing performance is sub-maximal

f3rg · Jul 13, 2010

I'm no pro, but I can do both.

Peter P. · Jul 13, 2010

cpark gets it. It's all about the ratio of slow to fast twitch muscle fibers, the amount of each, the efficiency of each, and the body's aerobic capacity. In my opinion, JCavilia is incorrect in saying Cavendish's body type is optimized by his training. He would not make a good climber no matter how much he trained. It's genetics, and we're all limited to what we can do and how well by genes. Training can't get you beyond your limitations.

I DO find it truly fascinating that riders that excel in one discipline like Cancellara's TT ability or Cavendish's sprinting, just go backwards when they're out of their element. Even at their level, they have limiters and I'll bet it frustrates them just as we get exasperated when we can't perform to the level we desire.

mendo · Jul 13, 2010

Hooben said:
If athletes could do anything...

The thing is, like someone said above, sprinters can do everything pretty well. I couldn't time trial alongside Cavendish for two minutes, nor could I climb with him.

I think there must be a half dozen sports Serena Williams would excel at, and I'm pretty sure that Michael Vick could knock some teeth out on a hockey rink.

JCavilia · Jul 13, 2010

Peter P. said:
cpark gets it. It's all about the ratio of slow to fast twitch muscle fibers, the amount of each, the efficiency of each, and the body's aerobic capacity. In my opinion, JCavilia is incorrect in saying Cavendish's body type is optimized by his training. He would not make a good climber no matter how much he trained. It's genetics, and we're all limited to what we can do and how well by genes. Training can't get you beyond your limitations.

I didn't mean to imply that it's all training. Genetics plays a big role. But training has some effect, and these guys of course train to maximize their particular strength.

The differences in the riders and the disciplines are one of the most fascinating things about cycle racing, and the big tours in particular. Casual fans miss all these races within the races. I always get the question, "who's winning?" it's way more complicated and interesting than that.

terzo rene · Jul 13, 2010

At the present time you need to produce [very] roughly 6 watts/kg to stay with the leaders on a climb.

80 kg sprinter x 6 watts/kg = 480 watts
60kg climber x 6 watts/kg = 360 watts

People have held the world hour record producing around 480 watts and none of them were sprinters.

sand101 · Jul 13, 2010

eddie m said:
Climbimg is about your power to weight ratio, time trialing is about total power. If a big guy has the same power to weight ratio as a small guy, they will climb equally, but the big guy will crush teh small guy in a flat time trial.

em

Friel has a good article about this. He puts forth that climbing is watts/kg dominated while time trialing is watts/frontal area dominated.

Jim311 · Jul 13, 2010

I wouldn't know, I'm not either of those things

Why can't sprinters climb...

Dereck

JCavilia

Hooben

skyliner1004

JimT

Mr. Versatile

dysfunction

f3rg

Peter P.

mendo

JCavilia

terzo rene

sand101

Jim311

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