Leadville 100 2009
 

I'm looking forward to this race this year. With Lance showing up to contest the race in much better condition. He seems to be the favorite this year. But I have a few observations.

It seems unlikely that Wiens would have the time to put into training since he is basically a retired and working ex-bike racer. Lance has been training 5-7 hours a day probably 6 days a week for the last year. And it is rumored that Lance is planning to bring a lot of fast roadies with him to try and set a really fast pace. They want to do the race in around 6 hours which will be cutting 45 minutes off from the fastest course record.

This seems unrealistic to me since most fit racers finish in 7-10 hours. But Wiens says that it is possible since the first 45 miles is usually ridden at a moderate pace before the big hills start.

One thing that I think Wiens has an advantage with is that even though he has probably not had the same amount of time to train, he has spend more of his time on dirt trails on a 22-24 pound mountain bike. I have to wonder how much of a difference this makes when you see that Lances training has been pretty much all on the road on a 15-16 pound road bike. Although, I'm sure Lance will have at least 2-3 weeks of mountain bike training before the race. How much time off he took after the TDF would be interesting to know. I'm sure that he took at least three days off doing nothing. Then maybe three or four more days doing light spinning for an hour or two.

Another thing to consider for Wiens is the nature of mountain bike training. In off road riding there is more variation of tempo, seat position, wattage output, cadence, etc. Modern sports science has found that this kind of varied training effect has a greater potential to create high levels of fitness because the body adapts so fast to the same routine. Of course, this is why even the pro roadies do different kinds of pedaling cadences and tempos. But I have to think that in the end, putting in the same amount of time on the mountain bike would bring greater levels of fitness. So more can be accomplished in less time.

Never heard of it. Where and when and what's the UCI catagory?

Lance came in 2nd last year, with less fitness. He is no newcomer to riding mountain bikes. Taking 45 minutes off the best time is a tall task. I guess if they can get a good paceline going that will be helpful. I wonder if all the Lance haters will show up to mock him?

It is a high altitude single day off road race in the Rocky mountains of Colorado with a lot of climbing.

I don't think that it is a UCI race. It might be on the NORBA circuit. But I'm not exactly sure what the status of the race is. It's a race with a pretty long local tradition. It appeals to some road racers because it's is a more endurance oriented course rather than being a pure technical mountain bike race. But it does have a couple of technical sections that are really steep.

Until Lance can beat Dave Wiens at this race he can't really claim that he is the best cyclist in the USA. But Wiens is about 6-7 years older than Lance and not in his prime. Also, Wiens cannot train full time. Last year Wiens beat Lance by about 2 minutes. Both shattering the course record. Lance was in good overall body condition (compared to average people), but he was not anywhere near his top cycling form at that time.

This year Lance is 15-20 pounds lighter and is coming off the Giro and TDF so he will be in or close to his peak fitness for this season.

Hezz keep in mind Laggard knows nothing about bike racing.

Richard

He he hook line and sinker.

I will be going to this, going to bring the mtb as well. Nice to see Lance bring the all around game, and help give mountain biking some much deserved exposure. Be nice if Versus covered the race so I wouldn't have to drive down so far :P.

Leadvill is probably tougher than any single stage in the TDF...I mean if Lance has to get off the bike to climb, you know it's tough.

LA just won a MTB race in Colorado, as preparation.

Why do I doubt this.

Because you know nothing about it?

:innocent:

I heard rumors somewhere that there was going to be a motorcycle camera and that someone is going to broadcast the race. Maybe Versus or Universal. I hope that this is true.

Pace lines in a MTB race, has even been done before?

Unlike Contador who is one dimensional, Lance can swim, run, mountain bike, and speak more than one language!:)

But at what altitude was that race at?

I used to have an officemate that ran high school cross country out of Colorado Springs-Leadville was in the same high school conference. He recounted that noone could ever beat the Leadville cross country team when they were hosting a home meet.

all the time, really common actually.

the 100 mile type single day events usually have sections of singletrack followed by sections of fireroad /class 2 type forest roads connecting the singletrack sections.

The Leadville course even has less singletrack than most 100 mile MTB races as most of the brutality comes from the altitude and the climbing.

If you can get in a nice group on the fireroad sections it really speeds the time up dramatically.

It was in Snowmass (i.e. Aspen) More or less the same elevation; not far away. Much shorter race though.

Lance seems like the clear favorite this year; but there's no way 6 hours.

It's difficult to compare difficulty. If you're riding up Mt Ventoux you're expending every bit of energy and fitness you have. The same goes for something like this. People in these sorts of races don't leave much in reserves, so I'd say they're about the same. They may be different sorts of races, but the end effort is probably about the same.

Wiens won last year with Lance back after only a few weeks. I'd say Lance is the favorite, but if he's using a team for the first stretch, he won't be able to once it starts getting rough. 45 minutes is a lot. I think it's a psych job... I think 15 minutes is quite possible, but I highly doubt 45.

You left a critical one out. Lance can also finish 3rd. :D :p :innocent:

When he's 37, Contador won't. He'll be off-podium before he's 33, I predict, possibly sooner. I give him another 3 years, 4 at the most and he'll be off-podium.

Evans was a good MTBiker in his day?

Will Contador be finishing 3rd in the TDF at age 37? Has he tackled mountain bike races or tri's??

Has he even dated outside his family**********:lol:

You know this for sure, huh.

Look up predict in the dictionary.

Maye I should have used 7 more smileys. :twitchy:

note to self - beware making tongue-in-cheek comments in Professional Cycling.

Why do you guys insist upon crapping up every thread in this forum. Leadville has nothing to do with AC. NOTHING. Go back to the AC/LA threads with this drivel.

Hezz, thanks for starting an interesting thread. I enjoyed it for about one post.

And what is your reasoning behind this prediction?