Sincitycycler

Much more than any other rider in the TDF?

I get wasted when I stand for for than 20 meters.

What's the benefit?

twahl

Because he can? I'm not trying to be contrary, just speculating that if he can do it more than others, he has an advantage. If nothing else it forces the others to crank it up a notch. It may be largely mental game for him.

I'm not "race ready" yet, but I find that standing will allow me to pick up some speed with just a few strokes, or allow me to regain cadence on a climb.

johnny99

Are you sure he stands much more than other riders? Maybe much more than Ullrich, but that's only because Ullrich is a big muscular guy who prefers sitting. Lighter riders need to stand to keep their speed up. If they sit, their speed drops, which is not good in a race situation.

samp02

Thats hoe Lance rides. He may not look pretty but the results speak for themselves.

Corsaire

That's how he trains on the mountains, usually a combinations of both. If you've seen a video of his training in the TDF routes, he's almost always "dancing on the pedals" while going up. It's a good way to get your body accustomed to the stress by increasing your aerobic capacity at the same time.

Corsaire

Bandusa

He trains to do it well. I can do similar interval training and get a better cadence up hill as well as gain some length on the final club ride sprint. Oh yueah, he's just awesome! (Lance that is)

pseudobrit

On long climbs, alternating between sitting and standing can allow you to work/rest different muscle groups and taxes your cardiovascular system in different ways.

It also allows you to stretch your body out a little.

oboeguy

I read in one of Carmichael's books that Lance needs to be reminded not to get out of the saddle too much. Or at least that was the case in 1999 (I think the book was written after he won the '99, bu before the '00 Tour).

dolophonic

With lots of conditioning standing when climbing is not as tiring as you might think.
It used to take a lot out of me but now i can do it as long as i need to ..it helps when you want to controle your cadence...or push a bigger gear.

Corsaire

It can be done. Some of my hill intervals I do it just standing,"dancing" away. It has gotten me much better and stroger aerobically, besides you get your legs used to that stress when it's required to, while others die away as soon as they stand up because their legs turn into "cinder blocks", can't take it.

Corsaire

smoke

yeah, i remember that, too. the book mentioned that he was a national-class triathlete before he turned solely to biking. the running work developed his legs in a way that standing while climbing was the only way he would climb. they had to train him to climb in the saddle

Keith99

Didn't watch all that much this year, but in the past Lance really did NOT get out of the saddle all that much. Compared to Pantani he almost never gets out of the saddle. But compared to Lance Ulrich almost never gets out of the saddle. I think this is more who you compare to and the TV coverage.

mashed_potato

Saddle sores... haha.

BTW, about the body weight... It's my impression that he lost quite a bit of mass durring the whole cancer ordeal. I've even heard it speculated that he probably wouldn't have had the ideal body type for winning long stage races without going through that.

DieselDan

I can back up the triathlete theory. The one climb of any height or distance, the tris stand up, while us cyclists sit and climb.

Al1943

Ditto. I thing this is the best answer. I'm an old guy with bad legs, I find that alternating between sitting and standing is refreshing to the legs on a long climb. I'm living proof that it doesn't require any kind of special body parts or endurance. Just do it. Generally you can run at least one gear higher while standing.

Al

Sprocket Man

True. When I'm riding my TT bike and climbing a hill, I pretty much have to stand. Time trials bikes usually have the armrests where you'd normally be gripping.

F1_Fan

There's a clip of LA in a triathlon from 1989 or 90 on the 'net somewhere (I forget where). His form out of the saddle is hideous (and in the saddle it's pretty bad too) ... the modern Lance is 10000x smoother.

khuon

Watch some MTB races... especially the ones with the killer climbs. Some of those guys never sit down and end up standing through an entire 35 mile course. My typical hill attack strategy is the same on the road as it was when I was racing XC. I build up as much speed as I can at the base and initially stand to maintain speed and momentum through the first quarter to third of the hill. Then I will usually sit down and grind. At the last quarter, I'll get out of the saddle and keep pushing well past the summit. When I was racing, I saw people make the mistake of sitting down too soon as they crested the top.