Friday, September 17, 2010

Working on Weaknesses

The TT in the Vuelta showed incredibly clearly just how important it is, no matter who you are, that it is important to work on your weaknesses.  We saw in the TT the overall leader - Rodriguez - not just lose time, but bleed so much time as to take himself completely out of the race for podium (barring a completely meltdown by one of the top 3 in the final few days). 

Someone like Rodriguez is not likely going to challenge for a TT win in most situations save for uphill TTs.  (First he's not a very big guy and while his power to weight ratio is ideal for climbs his power to frontal area is not as high as many of the guys he's competing with for the overall.  Think of it this way, a 5'10" rider, once into an aero position on his TT bike, is not much bigger than a 5'4" rider in aerobars from the front; the view the wind sees, especially a 5'10" rider with a good aero position.  A smaller lighter rider can produce less power than the bigger one and still be faster on a climb because of the significance of weight/gravity in climbing.  To stay close on the climbs the bigger rider has to be able to produce more power.   In a TT though - and the flatter and faster the TT - the more aerodynamics play a role.  In fact, in TTs aerodynamics and power are the keys.  The bigger rider with greater absolute power (as long as aerodynamics are similar or better) has the advantage in this situation.  You also have to be comfortable staying in that TT position and producing power in it.  If you don't ride in that position often you won't be at your best in it on race day.

Rodriguez didn't need to win the TT.  He just needed to keep himself close enough to Nibali to have a shot at taking time out of him again in the last climbing stage.  He didn't look as aero and he didn't look as smooth on the TT bike which is likely a result of not spending enough time on it.  He's a heck of a climber and was doing the smart thing of racing to his strengths by sticking it to the rest of the field on the climbs, but he gave up his chance to win the overall by not working enough on the weakness of TTing.

Find time to work on your weaknesses.  They may never turn into strengths, but don't let them be the anchor that holds you back from your greatest success.