TIME CHECK: WHICH IS HARDER, TEAM OR INDIVIDUAL TIME TRIAL?

The availability of his SRM power data and TrainingPeaks software to analyse it gives a rare chance to compare Juan Antonio Flecha’s performance in two of the 2011 Tour de France’s crucial stages.

Juan Antonio Flecha in full flight during the individual time trial.

Time trials and mountain stages provide the decisive moments of the Tour de France, and Juan Antonio Flecha has been in the thick of the action on the crucial days of this year’s race. His escapade on the Col du Télégraphe showed us what it takes to ride with the best, and by comparing his performance in the team time trial and stage 20′s individual time trial we can see why the team time trial is often cited as the most painful type of racing.

In Saturday’s individual time trial Flecha spent nearly 60mins holding his body at the edge of his capabilities as a bike rider. His normalized power of 410 watts for the ride is very close to his functional threshold power (FTP), which is the sign of a perfectly paced one hour individual time trial. In fact it is the definition of functional threshold power.

Flecha carefully controlled his build up to full race pace during the first few minutes of the race. He slightly increased his tempo to around 440-460W on the climbs to maintain his momentum as much as possible while still keeping the effort sustainable. By only dropping his rhythm on the descents to around 400W, Flecha afforded his body some recovery without losing precious seconds. The result of his careful and controlled ride is a fast yet even pace and a growing pain intensity as the body struggles to sustain an effort which lies at the edges of what is possible.

This clinical, precise pacing shows Flecha is well versed in the art of time trial pacing, but this unwavering effort is a stark contrast to the team trial which Team Sky took part in back on stage 2.

Team Sky in the team time trial. Juan Antonio Flecha is mid-group, fifth from left, making his way back up the line for another intense effort.

The challenges of an individual time trial are regularity, pacing and focus. The team time trial, on the other hand, requires repeated high intensity bursts, rapid recovery and lightning reactions to closely follow your team mates’ wheels at 60kph. As Team Sky hit full speed in the first few minutes of stage two, they began to take turns on the front of the group, each rider maintaining the speed while allowing his team mates to follow in his slipstream. Each rider’s turn is carefully timed so that no one spends too much time on the front before pulling over to let the rest of the group pass, The length of each rider’s turn on the front is determined by how long they can sustain the required pace and still recover in time to do it all over again.

The speed and prowess of Team Sky flying over the parcours of stage 2 put Flecha up into the red every time he took his turn on the front. Looking at the data it is clear to see why that is the case, the effort of pulling a team at nearly 60kmh is immense, requiring 630W to punch Flecha’s streamlined form through the air when he was at the head of the train. This mammoth effort is over 150% of the average power he held for the individual time trial, so clearly even he can’t sustain it.

Flecha's power trace from the team time trial shows spikes of high effort when he was on the front, interspersed with less intense spells. Click the image for the TrainingPeaks File Viewer

As Flecha moved off the front of the group and eased his effort he drifted back to join the back of the line of riders to recuperate. The drafting effect created by his colleagues reduced the power output required to maintain the speed of the team. However, just to follow the wheels of his colleagues demanded close to 400W. That was hardly restful but allowed Flecha to prepare for his next turn. By alternating turns on the front the team can maintain a pace far higher than any single rider could if riding alone. There can be no slowing down, each man must hold the speed, even if that means a struggle just to move to the head of the line for a fleeting moment.

A much steadier effort in the individual time trial with a few peaks and trough on climbs and descents. Click the image for the TrainingPeaks File Viewer

Despite sharing the time trial designation and using the same equipment and clothing, for the athletes involved, the individual and team time trials are very different physical experiences. Flecha’s data from stages 2 and 20 show those differences beautifully as well as illustrating just how deep a rider can dig to live up to the expectations of his team mates.