TDF heart rates

kennf said:

OLN is giving periodic HR data from a few racers (courtesy of Polar) and, once again, I'm amazed at how LOW the rates are. Guys with heart rates in the 110-130 range when they're cruising with the pack at 30 mph +. I know a large pack provides a hell of a draft, but come on! My HR goes above 120 just watching the damn race!

But also keep in mind that they said that most of the riders' max HR is about 185 bpm...but that range, around 120 is still pretty low, escpecially for how fast they're going.

See www.tourtotals.com for further analysis of heart rate curves, along with other metrics such as speed and altitude.

Do note that some of the riders have a low HRmax -- around 160 bpm or so (while of course some have higher at ~ 200 bpm). Please note, that no fitness/performance should be derived from the HRmax -- in other words just because you have a high HRmax (or indeed a low HRmax) doesn't make you fitter than someone with a lower or higher HRmax respectively. It's about the relative intensities for each rider.

also, check back later at www.cyclingnews.com for different analysis on the TdF starting with the TTT

Ric

kennf said:

OLN is giving periodic HR data from a few racers (courtesy of Polar) and, once again, I'm amazed at how LOW the rates are. Guys with heart rates in the 110-130 range when they're cruising with the pack at 30 mph +. I know a large pack provides a hell of a draft, but come on! My HR goes above 120 just watching the damn race!

I've noticed that in the graphic they show to display the HR it is easy to confuse the racer's number (which is often in the low 100'w) with their actual HR. Phil Liggett even made that mistake for about 10 minutes during the broadcast today before correcting himself. He repeatedly mentioned Backstedt was running at about 113 HR. In fact, his race number was 113, and he was running 165 HR. Doh!

roadhog said:

I've noticed that in the graphic they show to display the HR it is easy to confuse the racer's number (which is often in the low 100'w) with their actual HR. Phil Liggett even made that mistake for about 10 minutes during the broadcast today before correcting himself. He repeatedly mentioned Backstedt was running at about 113 HR. In fact, his race number was 113, and he was running 165 HR. Doh!

no such worries at the tourtotal.com site - as we get the riders HR files direct!
ric