The
Day Report – Race and Power Analysis of the
USA
Pro Challenge
Stage
3
Copper
Mountain to Breckenridge
More than half of today’s 163km Stage 3 of the USA Pro
Challenge was raced above 10,000ft. The climbing commenced from the drop of the
flag, but different to yesterday, the peloton was a little more subdued going
out of the gates, somewhat cautious of what lay ahead of them. 9 riders
eventually forced clear over the top of the first KOM, in it, 2 riders within
1.5minutes of the general classification lead. BMC would need to keep the break
on a short “leash”.
Starting at 107km and peaking at 131km and 3678 meters
(12,065ft) of elevation, this climb was a real lung-buster. There is no easy
way up this climb. The race has been won and lost here plenty of times before,
but for those who persist, there are opportunities to catch back on during the
long and fast descent into Aspen.
On this particular day, the right hand turn towards Twin
Lakes and the base of Independence Pass saw the riders start working into a
decent headwind, making it tougher for the riders on the front, yet easier for
the riders on the wheel and shaping the tactics. BMC and UnitedHealthcare put
their riders up front to sacrifice themselves for their respective team
leaders, hedging bets on their team’s best chance of success. This is the
beauty of cycling – all for one and one for all.
Kiel Reijnen’s UnitedHealthcare’s teammates, Marco Canola
and Jani Brakovic, waited for him once over the crest of Independence Pass,
foregoing their own chances of success and pain-preservation, and proceeded to
chase the front group of 13 riders full gas. Once there, they delivered the
perfect leadout and Reijnen took his 2nd victory in Aspen at the USA
Pro Challenge, but on very different courses.
Canola spoke of Reijnen’s intense motivation for this race
and the importance of the team working as one tight unit in order to be
collectively successful. We grabbed both of their Pioneer power files post
stage.
With Marco’s file, you can see how difficult the stage was
already from the first climb, with him spending the first 20minutes at nearly 320W
– try doing that at 3400meters (11,000ft)! Onto Independence Pass, his final
20minutes were also at 320W but the altitude was getting even higher – 3678meters
(12, 065ft).
You can see on the file that at the beginning of the descent, Canola was taking
it easy, waiting for Reijnen to latch onto his wheel, hook up teammate Brakovic
and go in hot pursuit of the front group. Canola led Reijnen through the final turns
and started his leadout averaging 20seconds at 685W.
Interestingly, you can see that Kiel’s hi-definition power
pedaling data showed that in his laborious efforts up Independence Pass, his
pedaling efficiency was at 48%, whilst during the final sprint, he was
delivering power more effectively with a pedaling efficiency of 63%.
In the sprint, you can clearly see how Kiel had to
accelerate hard out of the corner to come back to the wheel of Logan Owen
before kicking again and actually sprinting to the line seated. This effort
lasted for 19seconds at 913W and with a top speed of 70.3km/h (44mph) to take
the stage victory.
Stage 4 challenges the riders to ride up and over
Independence Pass again from Aspen to Breckenridge. The stage includes a
category 1, category 2, and category 3 all at high altitude. Interestingly, the
category 3 climb could be one of the most decisive of the entire tour. Be sure
to tune in.
