Maybe a hopeless task but trying to put a story around one of my random created rider stats.
He has Prologue of 78 but TT of 63. (Now it's probably random so thats how it's happened), but can anyone think of a real life person, who's good and prologues but really bad at TT. (he's a Puncheur not a sprinter btw)
Could this be explained by someone not having the endurance over a short distance? Because surely if he's good at PR surely his TT technique would be pretty good?
I can't get my head how there could be such a difference in RL.
The difference is usually not as big as 78 compared to 63, but there are riders who are good in prologues but not really capable of dealing with longer distances.
Lancaster is the best example I can think of at the moment. Also more or less all sprinters.
iirc Cavendish did a good ToB prologue in 2011 and therefore has a Prl stat of 76 and a very weak TT stat in the PCM.Daily DB. As Pelli says its mostly sprinters.
Thanks all, was the scale of the difference that got me. But I like having riders with at least one flaw, should make his story a bit more interesting if he can't TT for toffee.
generally a great TTer has good average power over 1 hour. now sprinters can TT well but the physiological qualities that make a sprinter fast over a short time also give them a lower power to weight ratio. that extra weight bears down on the rider over time. so the less time spent TTing the less that extra weight will get in the way. So a really explosive rider like gilbert can put out and maintain a really high effort over short distance thus making him good at prologues. Now a guy like Tony Martin is not very explosive, doesnt have a large amount of fast twitch muscles. BUT hes got great one hour power due to a massive engine. a large heart, large lungs, low lactic response, aerodynamic body, flexibility, core strength and high VO2max all combine to make him a beast.
just speaking from personal experience:
the mental aspect of doing a prologue vs a TT is huge. I feel that youve gotta be smart to win a TT where pure brute strength can win you a prologue. Ones an all out effort over a short time, its hard mentally and it hurts like hell but its just minutes and you can block the pain. for a TT its much more agonizing. Your at your limit, but youve gotta hold it for much longer, youve gotta be much smarter about how your gonna allocate that power over many Kms.
top 10 of all time in no particular order, not including the cannibal cause hes automatically #1:
-Gemininani -Nencini -Anquetil -Coppi
-Kelly -Hinault -Zabel -Bettini -Rebellin -Magni
..and honorable mention to Tom Simpson whos career was cut short.
Top 5 noobs most likely to tear it up this season:
-Phinney -Moser -TJ -Guardini -DURBO!
