Indurain - still a beast

[FastforaSlowGuy]

At age 46, 14 years after retiring, Miguel Indurain is still pushing 450 watts and 191 bpm at threshold. That's unreal. Maybe when he's 63, I could lob off one of his feet and, with a 20K head start, beat him in a 40K TT.

http://www.cyclingtips.com.au/2012/08/wednesday-news-shorts-3/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22868823

[MattTuck]

That's close to my 5 minute max power according to Strava.... which I think is totally wrong.

Pretty amazing, those guys come from a different gene pool than me. My french ancestors must have come from the region that drank wine and didn't bike much.

[ultraman6970]

Wow that dope last forever in the system! :P

At age 46, 14 years after retiring, Miguel Indurain is still pushing 450 watts and 191 bpm at threshold.

[Fixed]

Come back coming
Cheers :)

[ultraman6970]

Spanish beef... hmmm...

[rain dogs]

Incredible. The guy is a monster. If the Tour still had 200kms of TT'ing on average like in his days.... well, we'd be seeing a very different race again.

Guys like Tony Martin would be reassessing their goals I think.

[monkeybanana86]

Not sure if this book has been brought up but it also talks about human power generation (among many other things) and (although I don't remember the exact numbers) it also basically said the same thing when taking a pro athlete's data at their peak and comparing it to their performance at 50 the decline was small.

i'm not pro for sure but i hope to be able to ride over the hills for a long time!

http://bicycledesign.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Bicycling_Science.jpg

[beeatnik]

Indurain is only 46. Out here, the fastest amateurs are in their 40s.

[monkeybanana86]

Indurain is only 46. Out here, the fastest amateurs are in their 40s.

yeah he ain't old plus he has gained some weight so give him a few months to get fit and do it over!

from one of the articles:

"Whilst he is retired, Indurain regularly rides with his son, also Miguel and besides, at 46 he’s only a bit older than the likes of Jens Voigt and Christopher Horner.

Plus this seems to be one test on one rider. For it to be more meaningful we’d want to see a bigger sample size."

[Fivethumbs]

"Miguel Indurain - a man who knew how to wear a cycling cap and can still smash it."

My favorite quote...

[mgm777]

Indurain is only 46. Out here, the fastest amateurs are in their 40s.

Same out here in CO.

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

Wow that dope last forever in the system! :P

T, my thoughts exactly. Sadly.

[wasfast]

Indurain is only 46. Out here, the fastest amateurs are in their 40s.

The whole "age decline" is overstated IMO. In any of the cycling hotbed areas (Portland, SoCal, Boulder etc), you can find LOTS of examples of guys that are in their 50's and nearly as fast as ever. The combination of fundamental genes and years of accumulated fitness add up to a gray-haired hammer.

I've often felt that having age group racing means very little in terms of comparable competition. The biggest difference from Category racing is somewhat safer racing but make no mistake that it's "slower". The tactic knowledge is also much greater than the chaos/crash fest that is Cat 5 road racing.

Indurain may well have used "preparations" like most others in his era but that doesn't mean he didn't have an exceptional engine to start with. Choose your parents well.

[ultraman6970]

I need to get some of that to be able to ride 20 mph, only with that little improvement im happy :D Not racing, is not illegal :D

T, my thoughts exactly. Sadly.

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

I need to get some of that to be able to ride 20 mph, only with that little improvement im happy :D Not racing, is not illegal :D

Eff that. The long term effects simply are not worth it.

[MattTuck]

The whole "age decline" is overstated IMO.

I remember reading something that said people stay pretty much the same from 20-40 years old (assuming you don't just let yourself go), and you lose about 2% per year after that. Obviously some people will lose faster, others will lose strength slower, but if you keep on a good exercise program, you can stay fit for a long long time.

[Bob Loblaw]

I ride regularly with a couple guys in their fifties who can throw the heat and keep getting better every year.

I also know a few in their late 30's who complain about joint pain and recovery time and pine for their 20's.

It's all in the attitude. Well not all, but mostly.

BL

PS: I am 44, 175 lbs, and about as fast in the crits as I have ever been. Climbing not so much compared to 17 year old, 148 lbs me.

[MorganColeman]

I'm not sure I understand how the lab test was conducted. Did Indurain sustain 450 watts and 191 bpm at threshold for a 20 min period? What was the duration? Just curious.

Morgan

[ultraman6970]

At this point doesnt matter, even trained people cant do that :D