There are a large number of riders tightly packed at a high ability and performance level on this Tour, but Chris Froome is alone in having an extra gear.
Stephen Gallagher and Philipp Diegner of Dig Deep Coaching have teamed up with @VeloViewer on a fascinating data project for the Tour de France
They bring us this easy to follow top notch analysis of the data from some of the stand-out riders during Thursday's mountain TT.
A lot of the information is contained in three images below and you’ll need to click on them to make them full size and easier to read.
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Froome confirmed superiority in mountain TT
After Thursday's stage 18 of the Tour there was little doubt left that Chris Froome would win the race, though he would suffer a crash scare during yesterday's stage.
Taking more than 20 seconds out of everyone else in the TT and far more than a minute out of his closest rivals, his advantage in the GC increased to 3:52 on 2nd placed Bauke Mollema.
It took the yellow Jersey 30:43min to conquer the 16.8km course, riding an average speed of 33.21km/h.
It started with a 4km flat section before the riders were faced with the steepest part of the race.
The Côte de Domancy was a 2.5km, 9.4 per cent ramp before the gradient levelled off for the next 8km while still rising steadily.
The last part of the route was a tricky, fast descent towards the finish in Mègeve at 1095m.
A Pure Physiological Comparison
A mountain TT is the ultimate test of cycling performance. There is no way to hide in the field and aerodynamics play a minor role, if any.
It provides an ideal indication of the capacity of the strongest riders.
Main data from mountain TT, stage 18
Click on image for larger, easier to read version
As you can see in the graphic, 6th placed Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) rode the whole ITT in 31:45min, 1:02 slower than Froome.
His average power was 409W which equals 5.94W/kg at 69kg weight.
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Note that the overall power is understated a little by the fact that the stage ended in a descent, where power dropped significantly. His performance until the downhill was even more impressive: 425W (6.16W/kg) for 29:35min.
Danish talent Michael Valgren (Tinkoff) finished 30th.
He rode the TT at 389W (5.37W/kg) and the climb at 397W or 5.47W/kg (31min) losing 1:20 to de Gendt and 2:22 to Froome.
Dan Martin fastest start
To provide an in-depth perspective of the action during the ITT, we have compared de Gendt’s performance at every time split with the fastest time at that point.
The first 4km were mostly flat. The Belgian started conservatively, clocking the 46th time here; 4mins 52secs at 399W and 48.9km/h.
Surprisingly the best time came from Irish super climber Daniel Martin (Etixx-Quickstep) with 4:25 and 52.8km/h.
Then followed the steep “Domancy Wall”, where Richie Porte (BMC) showed his climbing prowess.
He flew up the 2,500m ascent in 6:51min at nearly 22km/h.
His power output during the minutes was about 7W/kg (62kg putting out 434W).
De Gendt, who was 2nd in this sector lost 11 seconds, while riding with 470W or 6.81W/kg!
Remarkably, Froome lost 31 seconds (7:22min) to his former lieutenant here.
One of the riders that lost out on this section was Dan Martin, as he climbed 52 seconds slower than Porte after his rapid start.
After that point, Froome showed his real ability, however, posting the best split at the next two sectors with 7:03min (3.5KM and 4.8 per cent) and 5:49min (3.5km and 3.9 per cent).
His power output was in the range of 415-425W or about 6.19 – 6.3W/kg for the 7km.
Mont Ventoux stage winner De Gendt lost significant time to Froome here, 29 and 25 seconds on the two sections respectively, as his power output dropped to 412W and 402W.
The last sector included a short steep ramp followed by a super-fast descent.
Jéremy Roy (FDJ) was one of the riders that took it up to more than 100km/h here, before crashing in the last corner.
Louis Meintjes (Lampre) clocked the best time here with a strong showing on the final steep bit before the riders hit the downhill.
Conclusion from mountain TT
Overall, the performances are very much in line with what we have seen over the last 2½ weeks.
The riders are very close together ability-wise this year.
Only Chris Froome is able to put out the extra power more consistently required to win the Tour de France.
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