# Tyler Farrar Garmin data



## agm2 (Sep 18, 2008)

So this is the first season where I've been actively studying the sprints. I've gained a lot of appreciation for the sprint. So i was intrigued when Garmin posted Tyler's Garmin data for his two giro stage wins (Stage 5 and 10). Though as I look at these something seems off. Stage 5 his max wattage is 1086 and his sprint appears to be right under 40, but on stage 10 his max power is 806 and it looks like he hits 60+ coming to the line. I know he had an amazing leadout by Dean but it just seems odd that almost 300 less watts produces around 20 more mph. 

Stage 5 data
Stage 10 data

Am I missing something here?


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

Stage 10 looks like it is vaguely a downhill sprint.


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## davidka (Dec 12, 2001)

I have read that Taylor Phinney can do 1000 watts for 60 seconds off the couch. I have a hard time believeing that a pro tour sprint can be won with a 1000 watt sprint. Greipel claims he goes 1800 watts.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*Greipel*



davidka said:


> I have read that Taylor Phinney can do 1000 watts for 60 seconds off the couch. I have a hard time believeing that a pro tour sprint can be won with a 1000 watt sprint. Greipel claims he goes 1800 watts.


also claims he's the next big thing

I think Griepel is prone to exaggeration


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## kbiker3111 (Nov 7, 2006)

First of all, those numbers are ridiculous. Have you ever gone 60 MPH on a bike? Everyone in the peleton would be spinning 150+ RPM in their 53x11. 

Regardless of the accuracy of the numbers, a Protour sprint isn't won by putting out 1800 watts, (although a track sprint is). A Giro stage is won by putting out 300+ watts for 4 hours, then holding more than that in the final 5k, then timing your move perfectly and having just enough left to accelerate away from the rest. Cavendish has notoriously low numbers, but seems to do OK anyway.


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

> First of all, those numbers are ridiculous.


They're not. I doubt he was going 74 miles/hour on a bike on stage 10. Did you even look at the data? Take a little closer look there. Clearly the bike or Garmin was on and in a car/bus/etc. after the stage. For stage 5, he's hitting 45-50 mph on a very steep downhill. I'm not a pro and I've done close to that. I cannot comment on the power, but the speed stuff is completely reasonable.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

kbiker3111 said:


> First of all, those numbers are ridiculous. Have you ever gone 60 MPH on a bike? Everyone in the peleton would be spinning 150+ RPM in their 53x11.
> 
> Regardless of the accuracy of the numbers, a Protour sprint isn't won by putting out 1800 watts, (although a track sprint is). A Giro stage is won by putting out 300+ watts for 4 hours, then holding more than that in the final 5k, then timing your move perfectly and having just enough left to accelerate away from the rest. Cavendish has notoriously low numbers, but seems to do OK anyway.


and he appears to be doing 60 mph for the good 25 miles, even though elevation profile seems fairly flat there. All at 100 rpm or less.


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## wiz525 (Dec 31, 2007)

I believe stage 10 was only ~140 miles. so any data after that is from a transfer as Dr_John said... regardless, it's definitely cool to see.


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## Mtn2RoadConvert (Aug 28, 2006)

Yes, and only 5 hours and 49 minutes, so the Garmin was probably not stopped and continued recording. Perhaps Tyler got off the bike and it was loaded into a vehicle and brought to a secure area?


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

Dr_John said:


> They're not. I doubt he was going 74 miles/hour on a bike on stage 10. Did you even look at the data? Take a little closer look there. Clearly the bike or Garmin was on and in a car/bus/etc. after the stage. For stage 5, he's hitting 45-50 mph on a very steep downhill. I'm not a pro and I've done close to that. I cannot comment on the power, but the speed stuff is completely reasonable.


this makes sense. for stage 10 he was going about 37 mph at the finish (5:45 or so into the race), which also appears to be uphill at that point. The data that follows is the bike being put on the car/bus.


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## agm2 (Sep 18, 2008)

It makes sense with it being put in the car/bus, I know I've done that before and if you cut out it after the 140ish mark the data seems to fit. 

We may may have caught the Garmin bus speeding though:hand:


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## steve_e_f (Sep 8, 2003)

how many watts does the Garmin bus put out at full sprint?


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

*The resolution*

of that peak wattage data is pretty poor...


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## woodys737 (Dec 31, 2005)

kbiker3111 said:


> First of all, those numbers are ridiculous. Have you ever gone 60 MPH on a bike? Everyone in the peleton would be spinning 150+ RPM in their 53x11.
> 
> *Regardless of the accuracy of the numbers, a Protour sprint isn't won by putting out 1800 watts, (although a track sprint is). A Giro stage is won by putting out 300+ watts for 4 hours, then holding more than that in the final 5k, then timing your move perfectly and having just enough left to accelerate away from the rest.* Cavendish has notoriously low numbers, but seems to do OK anyway.



Thank you. Finally someone gets it. I'll never understand why folks are so obsessed with max wattage as a stand alone value. I don't understand avg speed pissing contests either. In addition, max and resting HR pissing contests. Come to think of it I don't really understand much in the cycling world. 

Going for a ride. I'll try and hit 300 watts by the time I get to the garage door.


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## MarshallH1987 (Jun 17, 2009)

peak wattage helps, but that's not the main issue. I think it's much more important how your max wattage relates to your weight and how long you can hold it. I have a pretty good max output, but the races that i've done well in weren't a quick last 200m sprint, but have all been longer where i just keep going and going without doing my max output, just slightly less.


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## shomyoface (Nov 24, 2007)

kbiker3111 said:


> A Giro stage is won by putting out 300+ watts for 4 hours, then holding more than that in the final 5k, then timing your move perfectly and having just enough left to accelerate away from the rest. Cavendish has notoriously low numbers, but seems to do OK anyway.


I disagree. A Giro stage is won by not pedaling for 4 hours (using zero watts) and then putting out 1086 watts in the last 10 seconds or less.


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

shomyoface said:


> I disagree. A Giro stage is won by not pedaling for 4 hours (using zero watts) and then putting out 1086 watts in the last 10 seconds or less.


that's fine. But the data by Garmin tells the actual story.


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## root (Sep 13, 2007)

kbiker3111 said:


> First of all, those numbers are ridiculous. Have you ever gone 60 MPH on a bike? Everyone in the peleton would be spinning 150+ RPM in their 53x11.
> 
> Regardless of the accuracy of the numbers, a Protour sprint isn't won by putting out 1800 watts, (although a track sprint is). A Giro stage is won by putting out 300+ watts for 4 hours, then holding more than that in the final 5k, then timing your move perfectly and having just enough left to accelerate away from the rest. Cavendish has notoriously low numbers, but seems to do OK anyway.


Yeah, I was gonna say the same. Perhaps, 60 km/h is more believable than 60 mp/h (which is 96.56 km/h which is almost highway speed limit in most of North America).


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