Power Struggle
Are power meters killing spectacle in professional racing or just another tool that riders have to adopt and adapt to?
There are plenty of similarities between the first Tour de France of 1903 and the 104th edition of the race held in July. Established by a newspaper, L’Auto, to provide an epic test to the leading riders of the era, promote the wonders of France and, most importantly, boost its circulation, the modern-day Tour still essentially fulfils these goals. Yet, over the 114 years since that ground-breaking first edition that immediately captured the imagination of the French people, many other aspects have changed immeasurably, and perhaps none more so than the tactical approach to racing.
When the 60 intrepid Tour pioneers lined up in the Paris suburb of Montgeron on the afternoon of 1 July 1903 for what was the first multi-stage bike race held anywhere in the world, they employed the same simple strategy. The instant the starting pistol fired, they all sprinted away at a rate that would suggest to current fans that the finish line was just a few hundred metres up the road and not 467km and, for most, a full day’s riding away in Lyon.
In an era when asphalt was still to be invented and racing meant either battling through billowing dust if it was dry or cloying mud when wet, being at the very front was the most practical tactic. It enabled riders to pick the best line to avoid potholes, livestock, fans and oncoming traffic on roads that weren’t closed. Consequently, the battle between favourites such as Maurice Garin, Rodolfo Muller and Hippolyte Aucouturier was engaged immediately the starting gun fired and never let up until they returned to Paris 19 days and almost 2500km later.
Race evolution
Over the subsequent century or so, as roads, equipment and training techniques have improved, racing strategy has evolved hugely, to the extent that the present-day Tour could hardly be more different to that first edition. Instead of battling to be on the front, the main contenders for the yellow jersey now spend whatever time they can avoiding notice, sheltering behind teammates in the midst of the peloton, saving what energy they can for those brief moments when they judge that they can gain the best advantage.
The employment of this strategy meant that the favourites at this year’s Tour engaged each other fully on just half a dozen occasions, amounting to little more than two hours of action over the course of 3500km of racing. To a degree, this was the consequence of a route designed to extend the contest for the title until the final time trial in Marseille on the penultimate day of the race.
The narrowing of the gap in competitive ability between the main contenders also had an impact, this resulting from the widespread improvement and use of state-of-the-art training, nutrition and preparation. In addition, advances in technology and their application to tactics have also played a significant and, arguably, an injurious role with regard to the level of spectacle served to bike fans.
With regard to this final aspect, the chief culprit in the present-day peloton is the
Nairo Quintana “They take away a lot of spectacle and make you race more cautiously. I’d be the first in line to say they should be banned”
power meter. First used by professional racers in the 1990s primarily as a training aid, power meters have become almost omnipresent in big races as the accuracy of the devices has gone up and their weight has gone down. At the same time, teams have turned away from their reliance on ex-riders as team directors and have employed experts who can interpret data and implement best use of it in race situations, such as Tim Kerrison, Team Sky’s head of performance support.
While analysis and application of data relating to power output, cadence and speed is complex, the principal objective of using a power meter is far less so. By establishing a rider’s lactate threshold – the point at which the body can remove any lactate produced by muscles when exercising – performance coaches can instruct riders on the limits of their power output, and how to stay within them.
The consequence of this is that a rider setting the pace on the front of the peloton who is staying just within these limits knows that any rider who attacks from behind and attempts to break clear will almost certainly have to exceed their own threshold and, therefore, won’t be able to sustain that effort. As a result, there is often no need to respond to the escapee’s move as simply maintaining the set rhythm should soon bring the flagging rider back to heel. The tactic is brutally efficient, to the extent, many critics say, that it nullifies the cut and thrust that are the essence of gripping bike racing.
Steamroller effect
At recent editions of the Tour de France, Team Sky has been the most consistent and successful at employing this strategy, especially on critical mountain stages. When unleashed, the Sky ‘steamroller’ features all nine riders. Those who aren’t specialist climbers set the pace initially in the valleys, on smaller climbs and on the first pitches of bigger ascents. The lead man pulls aside when his speed begins to wane, to be replaced by the next of his teammates, until the specialist climbers in Froome’s support crew take to the front and turn the screw even tighter until the Briton has only his strongest climbing ally for company – Spaniard Mikel Landa this year and Dutchman Wout Poels last.
“You have to make the pace high enough so that the others are on their limit, and make it difficult for them to attack, but you also save just a little bit,” Poels explained to US magazine Velo News during the Alpine stages of the 2016 race. “I’m close to the limit. I always keep in mind that if they attack, I can speed up again, and I can follow,” Poels continued. “I can do it once, and it’s like the last bullet for me. Then Chris has to do it alone.”
The Dutchman confessed that he wouldn’t want to be one of the rival riders trying to find a way to counter the tactic, and that it can make for dull viewing for spectators. Yet, given its effectiveness, it’s also fair to say that if Sky wasn’t racing this way then another team would be. Indeed, on this year’s stage to the summit of the Col d’Izoard, the AG2R team of French contender Romain Bardet attempted to steamroller Sky in exactly this way, forcing all bar 10 or so riders to drop away from the yellow jersey group. Yet, not only did Froome remain in contact, but so too did four of his teammates.
So, what is the answer to this stultifying spectacle? Banning the use of power meters is an option, and one that has some very high-profile supporters. Speaking during the 2016 Vuelta a España, two-time Tour
Chris Froome “Sure, why not [ ban power meters]? We can also go back to singlespeed bikes, without gears. Why not, eh?”
winner Alberto Contador stated: “I think power meters do take some excitement out of races. They make everything more controlled. If you can count on a strong team, you can let another rider attack knowing that he has a limited amount of watts for a limited amount of time and therefore he is going to fade at some point.”
That same day, Nairo Quintana, Froome’s most dogged rival at recent Tours, was unequivocal. “They take away a lot of spectacle and make you race more cautiously,” said the Colombian. “I’d be the first in line to say they should be banned.”
His veteran teammate at Movistar, Alejandro Valverde, took the same line. “I think they’re really useful for training, but they take out a lot of drama from the sport. In competition, you should be racing on feeling.”
Many others have made similar calls, and there is little doubt that the use of power meters can make for dull viewing. However, is going backwards really the best way to take the sport of cycling forwards? Over the century and more since Garin and his rivals dashed away at the start of the Tour’s first-ever stage, the development of the derailleur, aero bars and even the tactic of teams gathering their resources behind one leader have all been dismissed because of the perception they would ruin the sport. They may have done so for a while, but riders and tactics evolved as their use became accepted.
Backward step
During that same Vuelta, where, incidentally, he finished a well-beaten second to Quintana, Froome countered: “Sure, why not [ban power meters]? We can also go back to singlespeed bikes, without gears. Why not, eh?”
The British rider, whose head-bowed style gives the impression that he is more interested in his power read-out than what’s happening in the race around him, later explained: “The power meter is there and I’m aware of the numbers I’m doing, but at the end of the day [racing] is more on feeling and I’ve got to judge that.”
His Sky teammate Ian Stannard has also insisted that power meters are a useful tool, but don’t substitute for tactics and intuition. “It’s a bit of an image that Sky has been given,” the Englishman told Cyclingnews.com. “You use them as a gauge, but who doesn’t? We don’t sit there and stare at our power meters.”
The onus on Sky’s rivals is to subvert this tactic, just as Quintana did during his thrilling Vuelta triumph last year. There were opportunities to do precisely this as Froome carefully picked his way towards his fourth Tour success, most notably on the Pyrenean stage to Peyragudes, where the Sky leader struggled severely due to poor nutrition over the preceding days, and had to ask his teammates to ease off a tad in their pace making. Yet no one did, partly because Froome took advantage of the long-established tactic of bluffing, riding alongside his rivals and looking each in the face. They assumed he was sizing them up for an attack and didn’t make the most of their chance.
Ultimately, power meters can do a lot to enable a rider to win the Tour, but they don’t give him the legs to do so. As Froome demonstrated, tactics can be just as effective too, and being the master of that essential racing science has given him much more of an edge than anything his power meter is telling him.
Alberto Contador “Power meters do take some excitement out of races. They makes everything more controlled”