Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Friday, January 27, 2017
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2017 Tour de France | 2017 Giro d'Italia
The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life, but that it bothers him less and less. - Vaclav Havel
Current Racing:
- January 23 - 29: Vuelta a San Juan
- January 26 - 29: Challenge Illes Balears - Volta Ciclista a Mallorca
Upcomng racing:
- January 29: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
- January 29: Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise
Latest completed racing:
- January 15 - 22: People's Choice Classic & Tour Down Under
- January 1-3: Mitchelton Wines Bay Cycling Classic
Marko Kump power output analysis
Kump's USA Abu Dhabi team sent me this breakdown of Kump's Tour Down Under Stage 6 power output:
Graphic of Marko Kump's power output
When the two official trainers of the Team UAE, Giacomo Notari and Samuel Marangoni, received the file recorded by the power meter Power2max, official supplier of the Team, concerning the performance of Marko Kump in the 6th and final stage of the Tour Down Under, they could confirm that often the final result of a cycling race is linked to unforeseen events.
The stage which was raced in Adelaide was won by Caleb Ewan in 1h55’28”. Kump, who was third in the stage classification obtaining a memorable first podium for the Team UAE, crossed the finish line few moments after the winner. The stage was very short and Marko had performed an incisive warm-up before the stage.
In the graphic (above) which was realized by analyzing the file of the stage of Kump, the Team UAE’s sprinter launches his sprint at 2h59’59” (phase 1 – the time started when Kump turned on his cyclo-computer, at the beginning of the pre-race warm-up).
In the short time frame of 11”, a series of events occurs and they influenced the final result. Analyzing the graphic, it’s possible to note that when at 2h51’59” of recording Kump launches his sprint, the power and the speed suddenly increase.
Later, a sudden decrease of the power and a less substantial decrease of the speed are recorded (phase 2). Unfortunately for Marko, this was the moment when, in normal conditions, the speed and the power should be in an increasing trend; the Slovenian sprint was instead forced to avoid Van Poppel who moved to the left and a Bora’s athlete who had led-out Sagan: facing these elements, it’s obvious that the power and the speed decrease.
When Marko has again the free road ahead him, he can push on the pedal again (phase 3).
He succeeds to push with a high power: the speed increases again, unfortunately the finish line was close and his ambitions for a place on the podium more prestigious that the 3rd place, which was however an important achievement.
BMC's Dubai Tour team
BMC sent me this:
26 January, 2017, Santa Rosa, California (USA)
BMC Racing Team returns to the Dubai Tour with a well-balanced team ready to tackle the now five-day stage race.
Sports Director Max Sciandri said the Dubai Tour, where TAG Heuer will be official timekeeper, will be the first race of the season for all eight riders. "This year we are taking a strong and balanced team to the Dubai Tour with riders who can be good on the flat stages and also on the Hatta Dam climb," Sciandri explained.
"We have Silvan Dillier who finished in fourth place last year, and riders like Jempy Drucker, who will be right up there in sprints. On the Hatta Dam climb guys like Samuel Sanchez and Dylan Teuns will test their legs, and I think we can be confident going into the race."
Silvan Dillier racing at the 2016 Tour of Switzerland
Dillier is looking forward to racing again and building on his fourth place in 2016.
"After coming close last year on Hatta Dam, I want to give my best to strive for a win this year. The race for the overall victory gets lost and won by seconds, especially with the time bonuses," Dillier said. With an additional stage where we will probably see another bunch sprint, the overall victory will favor a sprinter, but I'll try to find a way to get some bonuses as well."
Dubai Tour (31 January - 4 February)
Rider roster: Silvan Dillier (SUI), Jempy Drucker (LUX), Floris Gerts (NED), Daniel Oss (ITA), Joey Rosskopf (USA), Samuel Sanchez (ESP), Dylan Teuns (BEL), Loïc Vliegen (BEL).
Sports Director: Max Sciandri (ITA)
Accell Launches E-Bike Motor with Integrated 5-Speed Gear Hub
Bike Europe sent me this intriguing news:
APELDOORN, the Netherlands – In its search for new e-bike users Accell Group offers a rear hub motor that features a neatly integrated 5-speed gear hub. What’s, apart from the technology, also striking is the e-bike price segment that this new motor is targeting.
The new rear hub motor Accell Group is launching for 2017 has a built-in internal hub gear (IHG) made by Sunrace Sturmey-Archer. This 5-speed has been especially developed for e-bikes. It’s as one complete unit integrated in the motor. The SA IHG is shown in the exploded view at the right side in front of the three mounting bolts.
The new motor is a direct drive offering 40Nm of torque. Direct drive is in 3rd gear while the total gear ratio of the 5-speed stands at 242%. According to Accell this gear ratio is targeted to city use. “For sports use the cadence will be probably on the high side.” However, this new motor offers the possibility of combined use with a disc brake.
You can read the entire story here.
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