Originally Posted by
tigat
And yes, I do understand that there is a difference between lab results and the ability to race effectively.
Welcome to the group. Good bunch of folks here, with a wide range of experience. No p-contest stuff. And the comment above is dead on the mark.
V02 is a nice number to look at (fwiw I calc'd out low 80's high 70's at different times), as a maybe/potential indicator. It's also a moving target, and can be manipulated by drugs. And if you took the top pros with the most all time wins, most of them are sprinters with relatively anemic V02 ratings. Some of them don't even have spectacular peak wattage, unless they are track sprinters, the best of whom are hitting 150 % or more than the guys winning TDF sprint stages.
On the other hand if you hit over 90 V02 and the test was right I will coach you for free
That's a rare bird; Lemond, Bjerke, Waddell come to mind. Point 001 guys.
Pedal analysis is an ink blot test. One guy comes to mind who has one of the uglier pedals strokes I've ever seen...like a guy chopping wood. He went to the Olympics.
What's cool about the sport is it's not the number, it's when and how it's applied. Like poker, you can do pretty good with a garbage hand. It's also very cool in that your never too old to race, whether it's against the clock or banging elbows. Or both.
Beware though, it's crack.