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Cycling - Trends in Tour Races
Submitted by admin on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 18:50 In this excerpt, we learn about "Trends in Tour Races", reprinted with permission of Human Kinetics.
"Since the beginning of the 20th century, three-week tour races have been extremely demanding. Compared to the old days, the current trend is toward shorter, more intense daily stages. In the years to come, it is expected that the average amount of time a cyclist spends in zone 3 per stage will be more than 30 min.
Physiological Demands of the Different Phases of Tour Races
In general, three-week tour races have three main competition requirements: flat and long parcours (usually ridden at high speeds inside a large group of riders), individual
time trials (40 to 60 km over level terrain), and uphill cycling (high mountain passes).
Every tour race includes seven or more flat stages of about 200 km, lasting four to five
"Since the beginning of the 20th century, three-week tour races have been extremely demanding. Compared to the old days, the current trend is toward shorter, more intense daily stages. In the years to come, it is expected that the average amount of time a cyclist spends in zone 3 per stage will be more than 30 min.
Physiological Demands of the Different Phases of Tour Races
In general, three-week tour races have three main competition requirements: flat and long parcours (usually ridden at high speeds inside a large group of riders), individual
time trials (40 to 60 km over level terrain), and uphill cycling (high mountain passes).Every tour race includes seven or more flat stages of about 200 km, lasting four to five
