Jens Voigt

Bartali · Jens Voigt

Make of this what you will ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QEjuCLcwyM

bbnaz

what's up with the sneakers?

Enchantress

In numerous peer-reviewed studies, untrained people - meaning the average tv watching lad or lass - consistently show the greatest proportion of type IIb fibers. These types of fibers have the fastest contraction time and are by far, the key to maximum, all-out sprint performance. The studies have shown than untrained subjects typically produce the highest power outputs in very short (5-8 second) tests - and higher than the vast majority of endurance athletes. Why? Because type IIb composition is almost purely genetic - which is why the addage goes: sprinters are bone, not made.

It isn't the least bit surprising to me that someone could be a very endurance oriented rider like Jens, in a very very short distance like 200m assuming, they are both 100% fresh. If the punter had a sleeker bike and tucked down a bit, it would have been by an even bigger margin too.

I'm almost 100% positive I could beat jens (or contador or lance), etc, in a 200m from a standstill if I were completely fresh. I do race sprints at a fairly high category in the track for what it is worth.

The TDF guys like Jens are overwhelmingly slow twitch endurance oriented - as they must be to compete day after day of 4-6 hour rides in the mountains at high intensities. the majority of the peloton has no need to be fast from a standstill for 200m. Plus remember that on the track the 200m is done not from a stop, but it is a flying 200 which is why you don't see punters out there winning sprints.

If you train and train for endurance, such as jens, then that's what you get best at. Plus the small proportion of IIb fibers that he had to begin with will be converted to less explosive, slower contracting ones - which helps again, with endurance but hinders your sprint.

Now put a more naturally fast-twitch rider like Boonen, Ciolek, or Farrar, and the pro would have won...

70kmph

Ha... sign that guy

mr shifter

IMO...Jens the complete Professional just put enough into his ride to make it look good for the TV.
The Clue to that is his "Start" with his crank near the bottom and his first real push had to wait for his standing leg to then get in place.
So if Jens had been serious, his right foot position would have been some 10 degrees in front of "Top Dead Center" and also the standing foot never got clipped in until later.
The foot nearly came off the pedal as he tried to clip it in.

Quite a Showman is Jens.

Slapshot 3