{"id":193906,"date":"2023-09-12T12:03:14","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T12:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=193906"},"modified":"2023-09-12T12:03:14","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T12:03:14","slug":"power-numbers-in-grand-tours-climbing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/09\/12\/power-numbers-in-grand-tours-climbing\/","title":{"rendered":"Power Numbers in Grand Tours \u2013 Climbing"},"content":{"rendered":"

The record-breaking power numbers of 2023 aren\u2019t exclusive to the top GC contenders in Grand Tours. We saw amazing performances on iconic Grand Tour climbs from a lot of riders in the peloton. Let\u2019s take a closer look at some amazing climbing numbers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

C\u00f4te de Pike<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We can start at the beginning of stage 1 of the 2023 Tour de France.<\/a> It included 5 categorised climbs but it all came down to the last one, C\u00f4te de Pike, which is 2,1 km long with an average gradient of 9,4% stretching up to 15% in the second half. This climb offered a unique opportunity to see the world\u2019s best trying their hardest for about 5 minutes with relatively fresh legs at the beginning of the Tour.<\/p>\n

As expected, the attack came from Tadej Poga\u010dar and Jonas Vingegaard as they separated from the group with 500 meters to go. The only rider who managed to keep up was Victor Lafay. Thanks to Lafay leaving his Strava data open to the public, we can see the numbers for this climb in detail. His peak 3-minute power came on the second half of the C\u00f4te de Pike where he maintained a power-to-weight ratio of 8,7W\/kg, which is truly incredible.<\/p>\n

C\u00f4te de Pike climb<\/strong> (2,1 km at 9,4%)<\/p>\n

Lafay: time 5:34; average power 501W (7,7W\/kg)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Col du Grand Colombier<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Grand Colombier, a mythical climb spanning 17,8 km at a gradient of 7%, was the scene of another display of superb climbing during stage 13 at the Tour. A 20-man breakaway formed shortly after the start and managed to hold off the peloton until the final climb. Micha\u0142 Kwiatkowski saved enough energy in the breakaway to try and go for the stage win. He was dropped in the first 5 km of the climb by others from the breakaway but he paced himself amazingly and won stage 1 ahead of the pursuing GC rider group.<\/p>\n

\"Michal<\/a>
Kwiatkowski crossing the finish line of stage 13. \u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Grand Colombier <\/strong>(17,8 km at 7%)<\/p>\n

Kwiatkowski: time: 46:43; average power 386W (5,9W\/kg)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kwiatkowski\u2019s achievement is all the more impressive considering that UAE Team Emirates planned for Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a> to win the stage. UAE riders were pushing hard at the front of the peloton and reeled in most of the riders from the breakaway during the Grand Colombier climb. Poga\u010dar exploded into a huge attack with about 500 meters left in the stage. Even Vingegaard was unable to hold his wheel, losing 4 seconds to him at the finish line. Poga\u010dar was able to catch all but two riders from the breakaway during his final sprint. He completed the climb almost 3 minutes faster than Kwiatkowski but he had help from his teammates during most of the gruelling 17,8 km of climbing whereas Kwiatkowski had to do it all alone. Here are the estimates of his power numbers.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar: time 44:01, average power: ~410w (~6.2w\/kg)<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth taking a closer look at the last 500 meters where Poga\u010dar attacked. Kwiatkowski was going 18 km\/h, maintaining about 6,4W\/kg over that distance. Poga\u010dar somehow managed to fly at 36 km\/h despite going up a 10% gradient. Based on these numbers, we can estimate that Poga\u010dar was pushing something between 700-850W for about 50 seconds at the top of Grand Colombier. He truly had no equal there.<\/p>\n

Grand Colombier<\/strong> (last 500 meters)<\/p>\n

Kwiatkowski: average speed 18,2 km\/h; average power 423W (6,4W\/kg)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar: average speed 35,9 km\/h; average power ~700-850W (~10,6-12,9W\/kg)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Strava KOMs are flooded by the Tour de France peloton<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Perhaps the most notable thing about the 2023 edition is that it wasn\u2019t just a few GC contenders that did amazingly. Most of the riders from the peloton did really well on the most important climbs. How do we know this? Despite most of the riders keeping their data private, maybe a third of the peloton still uploads every ride to Strava. If you take a look at the King of the Mountains Strava segments for climbs such as Col de Marie Blanque, Col du Tourmalet, Cote de Cauterets, Puy de D\u00f4me, Col du Grand Colombier, or Col de Joux Plane you\u2019ll see that the whole leaderboard is flooded with this year\u2019s performances.<\/p>\n

In the next article of this series, we will take a look at the power numbers riders need in a successful breakaway that starts at the very beginning of the stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The record-breaking power numbers of 2023 aren\u2019t exclusive to the top GC contenders in Grand Tours. We saw amazing performances […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":193907,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[332,329],"tags":[6828,7361,7360,911,7346,7347,3415,433],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-193906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-training","category-road-cycling","tag-2023-tour","tag-col-du-grand-colombier","tag-cote-de-pike","tag-michal-kwiatkowski","tag-power-numbers","tag-power-numbers-in-grand-tours","tag-tadej-pogacar","tag-tour-de-france","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nPower Numbers in Grand Tours \u2013 Climbing - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The record-breaking power numbers of 2023 aren\u2019t exclusive to the top GC contenders in Grand Tours. 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