Russian beats men in black in Luxembourg and my second FTP Test

I must say, I like when someone isn't in that ideal position but with a huge amount of talent ends up taking the purse. Like Australian Peter McDonald in the 2009 Australian Road Championship, when he took Gold over HighRoad team mates Michael Roger and Adam Hansen.

Same story but in a Pro event this time, Russian Galimzyanov finished first in the Tour of Luxembourg, taking the win from two Sky riders, including super lead-out man, Greg Henderson.

Does it take an enourmous amount of talent to do that or is it just a bit of luck? I wish I knew...

Second FTP Test

Almost six weeks since the first test, it was time for another one!

This time, I planned to do it right and do a 30 min run to get the best 20 min out of it but when I got to Nundah (Albert Bishop Park) and felt the wind I knew it was going to be no more than what I needed: TWENTY MINUTES!

Conditions on the track weren't quite the same, the wind was twice as strong and slightly more to the West (more head wind on the straight and a bigger push at the back). Besides that I felt rested and good on the bike, ready to go.

The warm-up wasn't done by the book because I had limited time, and lets face it, I didn't feel like delaying the pain for too long. Like when you want to get in a pool and you know the water is cold, the quicker the better. So, after a few laps I was into it.

Here are the results of the two FTP tests:

Sun, 24th April (4 PM)
Duration: 20 min
Distance: 13.38 km
TSS: 36.6
IF: 1.047
NormP: 314
AvgP: 311
AvgHR: 158
Avg Cadence: 94

Wed, 2nd June (9 AM)
Duration: 20 min
Distance: 13.31 km
TSS: 38.2
IF: 1.071
NormP: 321
AvgP: 317
AvgHR: 161
Avg Cadence: 83

OK, I am not going to beat Galimzyanov, ever, or get a job as a lead-out man for SKY but it looks like there are small gains in those numbers and that's a good thing.

Or did I just pushed a little harder?

PS: I did end up reaching my best 30' also, at 275 W.

Power Profile

Then, comes the Power Profile Chart (previous one here), which also shows a few changes. Great! Of course, these a relative to the type of work I have been concentrating on and includes race efforts as well. In my view, they are showing changes and I just hope they are for the better.

Have a great weekend!