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news
Alberto Contador Trek Segafredo (via Facebook).jpgAlberto Contador says power meters should be banned in races
Alberto Contador, who rode the final WorldTour race of his career last month at the Vuelta, says that power meters should be banned from races. In a wide-ranging interview with Spanish sports daily Marca, he also shared his views on whether the sport should have a salary cap and spoke about his biggest regret and his feelings on his 2012 ban for doping.
Contador, who took a storming win on the Angliru on the Vuelta’s penultimate day to finish fourth overall, believes that power meters were a major factor in Team Sky’s ability to control the race as Chris Froome followed up his Tour de France win with the overall victory in Spain.
Marca had asked the 34-year-old whether he believed that the use of team radios denied riders freedom of expression and the ability to race intuitively.
“Earpieces don’t have to be taken away,” he replied. “They have less of an impact on intuition than power meters.”
To illustrate his point, he said: “If you’re riding up a climb and you know you can’t exceed 400 watts, and Sky are taking turns at the front at 400 watts, you don’t dare attack because you’ll burn yourself out, in 2 kilometres you’ll blow up.
“If you don’t see the numbers, your feelings can lead you to attack. Riders block themselves when they see the numbers, especially if the gradient is 6 or 7 per cent.”
Last week, accounts filed by Team Sky’s management company revealed that it had a budget of £31 million in 2016 and Contador was asked whether he felt cycling should have a salary cap.
“It’s a controversial topic, with people for and against it,” he reflected. “If a team has four times the budget of some others, that means many of its riders could be leaders of other teams. And teams like that can control races.”
He insisted his own departure from the professional ranks had nothing to do with his views on the subject, saying: “The wage limit could be high, but not stratospheric.
“A team leader could have a high salary, and then you could put together a good, competitive team which would bring much more balance to races now there will be eight riders [per team] in the Grand Tours.”
Asked how the sport had changed in the last 15 years, Contador said: “I think it’s more commercial now, with more pressure because previously teams were formed by families that owned a brand and who loved cycling.
“Now, with the budgets involved, all of the sponsors, or 90 per cent of them, are multinationals with markets on five continents. Previously, teams had riders of two or three nationalities, now they may have 15.
“It’s global cycling. Now we have races in Australia, China, Japan, the UAE. It’s more interesting for the multinationals and for riders from those countries, but for us it means disruptive schedules and travel.”
Contador, who along with Vincenzo Nibali is the only rider of the current generation to have won all three Grand Tours – something only six riders have ever achieved – was asked what his biggest regret was.
“Like anyone else, I’d have liked to have won the three Grand Tours in a single year. I won them all, but in different seasons.
“If I’d tried it when I was younger and when I had a very strong team around me, maybe I’d have had more of a chance. But there’s nothing other than that.”
While Contador has seven Grand Tour wins in his palmares, the loss of his 2010 Tour de France and 2011 Giro d’Italia titles after he tested positive for clenbuterol during the first of those races clearly remains a sore point for the Spaniard, who has always maintained his innocence and that traces of the banned substance were in his system after he ate a tainted steak.
“Anyone who reads the decision will see there’s no substance to it. The sanction imposed on me came after it was found there was no evidence of doping, that it was possibly due to food I had eaten. And that’s it; you get that sanction.
“It’s something that’s caused me a lot of damage, but I’m not going to go on and on fighting it.
“I’ve put it to one side because it doesn’t bring me anything positive and because I’m satisfied with knowing that whoever takes a bit of interest in it and reads the decision will know that I did not commit any act of doping.”
While he has ridden his final top-level race, Contador will be back on his bike in Trek-Segafredo’s colours twice more in the coming weeks, in late-season criteriums in Japan and China that are effectively exhibition races.
For the future, he’ll still be out on the bike as he looks to ease into his post-riding career without giving his body too much of a shock, while his Alberto Contador Foundation is partnering with Trek Segafredo to launch a development squad for next season to be run by his friend and former team mate, Ivan Basso.
> Trek Segafredo sets up development team in partnership with Alberto Contador Foundation
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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From that, the only figure you're really measuring then is how you feel compared to the number you see. I'd imagine they can and will find this in other ways too (HR though not as accurate) and even on the rollers before they start.
I don't think psychology can be determined by a number. The riding beyond the power and turning the screw doesn't necessarily work as all those other factors mentioned come into it - how do you even know what your number looks lie compared to another, what their power zones are etc.
I do see an issue with it in that it can lead to negative riding and have the 'Sampras' effect, maybe the 'Froome' effect. Contandor attacks, Froome looks at his number and how long he believes he can hold it for. He's not going to do anything stupid in km 3 of a 15km climb. For me though, this only really tells you that Froome is getting assistance with knowing how to ride at his limit, as are all the other riders. Take the power meter away and I don't think he's going to start chasing stupid attacks down.
They can help with training and help give an indicator on where you are in a race - I think they actually have more impact for us mortals in making training gains, at the high level, they're already there!
I think his point about team radios is wrong, I think teams should be allowed 2 radios, to give to whoever they like (leader and a road captain I'd assume) it'd be much more unpredictable if they have to actually look around at what's going on, it'd disrupt some of the uphil trains as they'd have to estimate their efforts more, not keep adjusting to whatever was being called for all the time.
Of course the time gap reporting would need to become a lot more accurate to compensate.
I'd love to believe Contador was clean, his joy at just disrupting a race really has been something very few others have done. But there's too many factors against it, getting caught once for something that's possibly from a tainted source, the riders he was up against/era when he emerged, the fact that the Spanish anti doping authorities and courts haven't exactly been knocking down the door of dopers. it takes a huge leap of faith.
"Without power, you do not 'know' if your rival is riding beyond their limits the way you do with power. All those little subtle squirts you can apply, the little efforts of really pushing over a crest without shifting position etc... all completely pointless with a power meter. "
How do you 'know' anyway.
Your power meter is telling you your power, not how long your opponent has satin the wheel, how well they've fuelled, their effots the day before and recovery. You have a number that gives an indication of where you think you can go, it does little else regarding knowledge of what your opponents are capable of...
Disagree with this.
Yes, on a big climb, if you are at or around your threshold after a big day, there are factors that can influence how well someone is going compared to you beyond the number on your screen... but thats not really what I am talking about. In those situations, the freshest, strongest guy / gal wins.
What I am talking about is the psychology... of someone going on the front and turning the screw for a few minutes to see what shakes out. If you are world class and you know you are... you'll know what power is required to stay with the best. Put simply, if you are riding beyond that power by any determinable margin to follow a rival, you know that your opponent is riding beyond their limit and its just a case of waiting it out. Your opponent can't find extra power... yes they can maybe retain more power, but thats not what we are talking about here... at world class level, all have managed themselves to perfection to that last climb... if not, they'll know it and be expecting the hammer.
Take away power and you suddenly don't know if you are having a bad day, good day, exceptional day, beyond how it feels. Tangibly knowing your day is what provides the base to assertain if your opponents are on a great day, or hanging themselves out to dry.
I'd agree that power meters take away the psychological element of racing to a large degree... at grand tour level.
Without power, you do not 'know' if your rival is riding beyond their limits the way you do with power. All those little subtle squirts you can apply, the little efforts of really pushing over a crest without shifting position etc... all completely pointless with a power meter.
With a HR you can make some pretty educated assumptions, however you don't know... a little seed of doubt is all you need.
Therefore I'd back power meter free racing.
I wish they had some powermeter-less races in the season, so that we (viewers) can compare. Giro for example.
Back before power meters I used pulse to gauge my efforts mountain bike racing. I knew I could cruise along for a good while at 185 or so. If I went over that for any length of time I knew I would blow. Power meters are far better at that. So I agree with AC on that. Salary caps for teams can also lead to more exciting and evenly matched racing. It has worked in the NHL.
Contador now says he could have won all three Grand Tours in one year. But he never did ride them all. Looking at his palmares he might have been able to do it if he hadn't "retired" for two years. We are glad he came back but he lost some vital years to his temporary "retirement." I guess we will never know.
Well yes there is HR lag of a few seconds, but the point is through using power in training you will pretty much know what a certain HR means even when you dont have the power data available.
Why do riders always speak out after they retire? Put your money where your mouth is...
You would have to ban power meters and HR meters in training as well, and as mentioned riders who know how to ride to their limits are not going to suddenly forget all of it and charge up mountains at 500w for long stretches all of a sudden.
Disagree. The onset of fatique in anaerobic effort (such as riding above your FTP) is closely correlated to the current power above the threshold. Heart rate does not follow the level of effort so fast and is pretty much useless in modern training. Think of a sprint after taking a hard corner: you approach the corner at a fairly low effort, slowing in order to stay upright in the corner, then put out some hard effort right after the bend. Your heart rate will eventually go up, but will be significantly delayed compared to the power. What's very important is that for a short time you feel that everything is ok, but after a while you start feeling soreness in the muscels. Using a power meter helps you prevent that scenario.
The point is that even though power meters are a great tool in training and help achieve maximum performance, it also makes grand tours much less dramatic.
He'd do well not to mention the steak ever again.
I can't see removing powermeters stopping Sky riding how they do. I can't see them suddenly riding off wildly because they can't see their power. But that's just my opinion.
Pay caps - not a bad idea but surely it is total team expenditure that is the problem? What about bonus schemes? Surely this would have to be restricted too? Otherwise a team could just organise a bonus structure that still tops up salary to current levels.
Racing with a power meter is totally different thant without. Seeing the power value can really help you time your effort and assure that you do not blow up too early, especially on long climbs that you encounter in grand tours.
As an amateur racer I often see people riding without power meters trying to attack on climbs, especially less experienced riders. Whenever I do 120-130% of my FTP on the climb and see someone tacking me over with speed 4 or 5 km higher I ask myself the question - how long till they crack? Most times the answer comes seconds later with the guy being dropped from the group.
And isn't this exactly what a lot of experienced pros do including clenbuteral bertie, contador is amongst many who have 'attacked', only to fail miserably a few minutes later (well vcertainly so since he got caught) As an experienced pro he would know that to attack in certain situations when the pace is already fairly high is simply not going to work.
To say not to have power meters is a bit like telling the guys in F1 to ditch all the tech, the best drivers, best organised teams with great team work will still win. Economical driving that looks after your tyres because you aren't on the ragged edge for 10 laps saves you time by not having to come in for another pit stop thus losing more time. This is the same as going off bertie style, dropping back, recovering and going off again, except in cycling this rarely if ever works out because you can't just get a fresh pair of 'tyres', once you're deep into the red there's no going back.