A Season in the Saddle
A Technical Review of the 2011 Season
During our recent goal setting session with Team MTN Qhubeka for the 2012 season I decided to take another in depth look at all my SRM Power Meter race files for the 2011 season. Having set big goals for myself at the start of the 2011 season I wanted to get a good understanding of what I have achieved this past year, what it is that I want to achieve this coming year, how far away I am of achieving those goals and what it would take for me to make it happen.
I set out to compare the level of South African women’s cycling to that of the international racing I did during our trip to Europe in June/July.
For me the races that I competed in during the 2011 season can be categorized in four distinct groups. From each of these four groups I chose the two hardest and/or most comparable races to analyze in this article. Please refer to the specific endnotes to this article as well as Table 1 at the end of this article for a brief description of the races analyzed.
Group 1 (Blue Graphs): International UCI Racing
(UCI 2.2 4-day tours in France)
Tour de Bretagne Féminin Stage 4 A
Tour Féminin en Limousin Stage 4 B
Group 2 (Red Graphs): Local Racing - Breakaway
(Local racing where we raced in a women’s only bunch and where I was in a breakaway)
Engen Dynamic Cycle Challenge – Durban C
Amashova Durban Classic D
Group 3 (Green Graphs): Local Racing - Bunch Sprint with Men
(Local racing where we raced with the veteran men and the race usually ended up in a bunch sprint)
Argus Cycle Tour E
Dis-Chem Ride for Sight F
Group 4 (Orange Graphs): Local Racing - Bunch Sprint Women Only
(Local racing where we raced in a women’s only bunch and the race ended up in a bunch sprint)
Lost City Cycle Classic G
MTN OFM Classic H
To compare these races to each other I used Average Power and Normalized Power (NP) both of which are measured in watts as well as Total Stress Score (TSS) and Intensity Factor (IF). I also looked at the amount of race time spent in each of the training zones (Active Recovery, Endurance, Tempo, Threshold, VO2 Max and Anaerobic Capacity) during the races selected. All of these terms are explained in detail by Andrew R. Coggan, Ph.D.1 and are used in the popular training software TrainingPeaks.
Figure 1: Compares the Average Power for each of the race days used in this study.
Figure 2: Compares the Normalized Power (NP) for each of the race days used in this study.
Figure 3: Compares the Total Stress Score (TSS) for each of the race days used in this study.
Figure 4: Compares the Intensity Factor (IF) for each of the race days used in this study.
Figure 5: Compares the amount of race time spent in the different training zones for each of the race days used in this study.
Figure 1: Average Power
International UCI Racing: 176 – 179 watts
Local Racing - Breakaway: 201 – 220 watts
Local Racing – Bunch Sprint with Men: 161 – 175 watts
Local Racing – Bunch Sprint Women Only: 155 – 163 watts
Figure 2: Normalized Power
International UCI Racing: 216 – 216 watts
Local Racing - Breakaway: 234 – 235 watts
Local Racing – Bunch Sprint with Men: 206 – 216 watts
Local Racing – Bunch Sprint Women Only: 206 – 211 watts
Figure 3: Total Stress Score (TSS)
International UCI Racing: 230 - 234
Local Racing - Breakaway: 249 - 253
Local Racing – Bunch Sprint with Men: 209 - 226
Local Racing – Bunch Sprint Women Only: 194 – 218
Figure 4: Intensity Factor (IF)
International UCI Racing: 0.862 – 0.865
Local Racing - Breakaway: 0.936 – 0.938
Local Racing – Bunch Sprint with Men: 0.850 – 0.895
Local Racing – Bunch Sprint Women Only: 0.822 – 0.843
Figure 5: Training Zones
Anaerobic Capacity Zone:
The two international races had by far the largest percentage of race time spent in the Anaerobic Capacity zone of all the races analyzed. With a bigger bunch and more teams racing at a higher level this was not unexpected. The Argus in which we raced with the veteran (age 30+) men also had a relatively large percentage of race time in this zone. This was mainly in response to the racing done by the men as opposed to attacking and covering moves. Interestingly enough OFM had the fourth largest percentage race time in this zone. I was surprised by this and it shows that at a race where we were racing in a women’s only bunch the racing was aggressive. The races in which I was in long breakaways naturally had a lower percentage time spent in this zone. At both these races I was able to ride a steady tempo for a large part of the race.
VO2 Max Zone:
The percentage race time spent in the VO2 Max zone was similar for the international races and the local races where I was in a break. It was also higher than that of the other local racing which ended in bunch sprints. The only explanation for the Engen Dynamic race having the highest percentage of time spent in this zone is a serious case of self-inflicted pain in an 80km solo breakaway.
Threshold and Tempo Zones:
The races in which I was in a break had by far the biggest percentages of time spent in the Threshold and Tempo zones. These efforts were similar to individual time trial efforts and it explains why it was so much higher than that of the other race groups. The percentages of race time spent in the Threshold and Tempo zones for the other local racing that ended in bunch sprints were just slightly lower than that of the international racing.
Endurance Zone:
A smaller percentage of time was spent in the Endurance zone for the international races and the local racing where I was in a breakaway. This was probably due to the higher percentages of time spent in the Threshold and Tempo zones for these races. The other local races studied which ended in a bunch sprint had a higher percentage of time spent in the Endurance zone which goes hand in hand with the lower percentage of time spent in the Threshold and Tempo zones for these races. This is a result of the lower intensity of the racing.
Active Recovery Zone:
All local racing that ended up in a bunch sprint had a large percentage of time spent in the Active Recovery zone. At the Argus and Ride4Sight it was mostly due to the bigger bunch sizes and the women that were not really contributing to the racing that was happening up front. For Lost City and OFM where we had a women’s only bunch it was probably due to the lower intensity of the racing between attacks. Not surprisingly the two local races where I was in a break had by far the lowest percentage of time spent in this zone. The two international races also had high percentages in this zone mainly due to the bigger bunch sizes.
Conclusion:
When looking at the data above the Group 2 races (which in 2011 also included other big races like the Momentum 94.7, Dome2Dome Cycling Race and the Jacaranda Satellite Classic) consistently had higher average/normalized power, Total Stress Scores (TSS) and Intensity Factors (IF) than that of the international racing. These were also the races that had the biggest percentage of race time spent in the VO2 Max, Threshold and Tempo zones. It was usually the same group of women who made the break in these races. If only looking at this data it would not be an unreasonable assumption that the group of women who are able to race at this intensity locally should not only be able to compete internationally but also perform internationally. A very important question would then be asked based on this assumption. Why do we, with the exception of a couple of athletes, not perform better when given the opportunity to race internationally?
I personally have had many sleepless nights thinking about this issue. I have found that the main problem is a lack of experience and in some cases a lack of opportunities. Bunch skills, racing tactics and mental concentration which develop over time are vital ingredients to a successful international cycling career. These seem to be second nature for most women racing internationally but for a few women including myself that started cycling later in life it steepens the learning curve considerably.
In my opinion the best way to develop into a cyclist that can compete internationally is still having the opportunity to race internationally. It unfortunately is expensive and an investment of that kind cannot be justified for every women cyclist in South Africa. That is why finding ways to improve cycling locally is vital to the continuous development of the sport and the individuals in it.
The topic of how to utilize local racing to better prepare us to perform internationally has been much debated this past year. Many believe that having the women race with the men would help to make the jump from local to international racing less severe. To some extent racing with the veteran men the first half of the 2011 season did help with bunch skills but it did not come without sacrifice. Since the men we were racing with were stronger than what we were most of the racing were being done by them with the women mainly sitting in the bunch. We lost the opportunity to work as a team and practice good racing tactics both of which are also vital to success when racing internationally.
Looking at Figure 5 above the percentage of race time spent in the Anaerobic Capacity zone for international racing compared to that of our local racing is much higher. The percentages of race time for these international races are also more evenly spread amongst the different training zones when compared to the local racing. Adding more aggressive forms of racing like criteriums and circuit races to the local calendar would not only help with high end anaerobic racing and attacking but will also improve bunch skills due to the more technical nature of these types of racing.
Although not all professional women cyclists in South Africa are physically and/or mentally ready to step into the international racing scene it does seem to me that most now understand what it takes to prepare for international racing. Over the past two years that I have raced in the local women’s bunch I have seen a conscious effort made by most to make the racing as hard and as aggressive as possible. There is a will and drive to succeed not just locally but internationally as well. Changing the way that we race locally was a big step in the right direction. I think few people realize how far the women’s bunch has come in recent years.
With Team MTN Qhubeka and their full support of the Lotto Belisol program in 2012 it is going to be an exciting year for me filled with the opportunities of a lifetime.
Table 1: Race Detail
A Tour de Bretagne Féminin Stage 4: It was a 110km race over mostly flat and rolling terrain with a total elevation gain of 855m. There were about 100 riders in the bunch from 18 international teams. The race finished with three 12km laps of a hilly circuit. The bunch split as soon as we hit the finishing circuits and there were only about 12 of us left in the front group. Another group crossed over to our group with a lap to go increasing the front bunch to about 40 riders. It was a small bunch sprint with one solo rider off the front and I finished with the front bunch.
B Tour Féminin en Limousin Stage 4: It was a 104km race over mostly flat and rolling terrain with two climbs and 1315 m of elevation gain. There were about 130 riders in the bunch from 20 international teams. A small break of 5 riders went early on in the race and stayed away to the finish. The main bunch split on the second climb of the day and there were about 25 of us left after that. It was a small bunch sprint in the end and I finished with the front bunch.
C Engen Dynamic Cycle Challenge – Durban: It was a 97km race over mostly flat and rolling terrain with one climb about 10km into the race and a total elevation gain of 772m. There were about 20 women in the bunch with representatives from Team MTN Qhubeka, Team USN and the FJR Ladies Cycling Team. On the climb one of my teammates attacked and Cherise Taylor, Team USN, countered her move. I managed to jump onto Cherise’s wheel. After about 1km I attacked her and then managed to stay away for the rest of the race.
D Amashova Durban Classic: It was a 103km race over mostly rolling terrain with a total elevation gain of 522m. There were about 50 women in the bunch with all riders from the major local race teams (Team MTN Qhubeka, Team USN, Team Nashua Toyota and the FJR Ladies Cycling Team) present. The bunch stayed together for the first 50km of the race. One of the hills caused a split in the bunch and on the following hill Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, Team Nashua Toyota, attacked. She managed to stay away for the rest of the race. Joanna Van De Winkel also from Team Nashua Toyota and I crossed the finish line in 2nd and 3rd a few minutes ahead of the main bunch.
E Argus Cycle Tour: It was a 109km race over mostly rolling terrain with a few climbs and a total elevation gain of 993m. We were racing in the same bunch as the Veteran 40+ men. There were about 280 riders in the bunch with all riders from the major local race teams (Team MTN Qhubeka, Team USN, Team Nashua Toyota and the FJR Ladies Cycling Team) present. The bunch was split going up Champman’s Peak and Suikerbossie but came together shortly after and stayed together for most of the race. It was a big bunch sprint in the end and I finished with the front bunch. Note: Comparing the Argus to the other local races that finished in a bunch sprint is difficult due to the fact that it was raced at a low altitude and had higher elevation gain that the other races of this nature. I included it in this article due to the significance of the race.
F Dis-Chem Ride for Sight: It was a 116km race over mostly flat terrain with a total elevation gain of 571m. We were racing in the same bunch as the Veteran 50+ men. There were about 110 riders in the bunch with all riders from the major local race teams (Team MTN Qhubeka, Team USN, Team Nashua Toyota and the FJR Ladies Cycling Team) present. During the race there were a few attacks by the women in the bunch but all of which got neutralized by the men. It was a big bunch sprint in the end and I finished with the front bunch.
G Lost City Cycle Classic: It was a 113km race over mostly flat terrain with a total elevation gain of 527m. There were about 40 women in the bunch with most riders from the major local race teams (Team MTN Qhubeka, Team USN, Team Nashua Toyota and the FJR Ladies Cycling Team) present. During the race there were a lot of attacks especially by Team MTN Qhubeka but the race stayed together for the most part. I was racing for the sprinter on the day and was attacking and covering moves. It was a small bunch sprint in the end and I finished with the front bunch.
H MTN OFM Classic: It was a 98km race over mostly flat terrain with a total elevation gain of 448m. There were about 50 women in the bunch with all riders from the major local race teams (Team MTN Qhubeka, Team USN, Team Nashua Toyota and the FJR Ladies Cycling Team) present. During the race there were a lot of attacks especially from Team Nashua Toyota. A small break went early on in the race but it was later brought back by Team USN and Team MTN Qhubeka after Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, Team Nashua Toyota, crossed over to the break. I was racing for the sprinter on the day and was attacking and covering moves. It was a small bunch sprint in the end and I finished with the front bunch.
1 For a detailed description of the terms used in this article please refer to the following link: http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/cycling/normalized-power,-intensity-factor,-training-stress-score.aspx
