I was browsing Instagram and saw a Garmin post for the Cape Epic this year where Matthew Beers did 400w NP for 3h22m on the queens stage and thought that was absolutely ridiculous.
So I was wondering if ya’ll had some examples of pure, crazy wattage. Not w/kg, just big numbers. Maybe some pros on Strava KOM’s or track races or something.
Head unit snooping post Paris-Roubaix showed a 305 watt average/350 NP for 5.5 hours for mid-pack pros, and mentions one of the top 10 averaged 350 (not normalized) for the same period. And 6000+ kJ, oof!
This Roubaix was crazy all-round. MVDP’s power data would be awesome to see.
Keegan hit 1,245 watts in the sprint to win Unbound last year after 10 hours at ~4 watts/kg. 10 second power was >1,000 watts.
I’m looking for bigger numbers. 279W is a modest number (if we don’t consider w/kg, the 10 hour duration, or that fact that he’s the most dominant gravel rider lol).
This impressed me recently…
Lazkano’s average power over the 3 hours 44 minutes he took to win the race was 350 watts, which equated to an astonishing normalised power output of 409 watts over that time. In terms of the shorter efforts, there was a peak 20-minute output of 457 watts, and a five-minute peak of 514 watts.
On a recent Watts Occurring, Geraint Thomas shared that Filippo Ganna did 482 watts for 14:30 during the final climb of a Tour of the Alps stage. Similar to Lazkano’s numbers mentioned above.
These are super impressing absolute power numbers, though of course those are both big dudes so they’re actually somewhat pedestrian in W/Kg within the pro peloton. As I’m similar in size to Ganna it’s rather humbling to know what I’d need to put out the keep up with the pros!
Andrew Feather put out 7.28W/kg for 11 mins 58 seconds to win the British hill climbing championship. He is not a pro.
Different races but:
Keegan has world-tour level power numbers at sea level, especially for long events. There are guys with bigger numbers in the world tour, but he’s certainly well above WT pack fodder levels (if that’s a thing). But his numbers in the high mountains are insane and at the top even when compared to WT pros. He just doesn’t lose much power at altitude. His leadville performance last year was nuts, basically time trialed solo for 3/4th of the day. Average around 340w for both of the long decisive climbs and just sat on 300+ on the flatter sections. I know those numbers don’t look that big compared to some of the others being shared, but that’s at 10-12k feet where 340 is the equivalent of 400+ at sea level and keegan isn’t one of these huge TT guys.
I love watching bike racing, but it would be much more engaging if real-time telemetry, including power, was available.
Was going to say, crazy power numbers are usually a sign the power meter battery is on the way out!
WATT MAGIC: BRENNAN WERTZ’S INSANE HOUR OF POWER TEST
a follow-up article too…
AN HOUR ON THE RIVET: WHY THE ULTIMATE POWER TEST IS FOR EVERYONE
6’5", 200 lbs/90.7 kg and 485W? Wonder how many miles he gets out of those tires. He could probably do burnouts hahaha
I think I’ve deleted my dodgy power records recorded with my initial shop fitted AvioPowerSense. I cant remember the precise numbers but having started a ride below 0 deg C, it didn’t cope with the change to positive temperatures. IIRC I was seeing numbers around 800w when I was soft pedalling and near 1600w on a sprint; at most I’d do 800w in a sprint back then. IIRC they refitted it but it was almost as bad, before doing me a complete new factory install, and that unit was good until the seals started to fail at the start of lockdown and by the time they got back to me I’d bought my more reliable 2nd gen 4iii PM. I’ve occasionally thought about fitting it to my commuter but having followed the review link ,to a domain for sale page, it looks like they have folded.
Good lord. I imagine he has no trouble dropping 99.9% of riders on the flats.
He’s had decent results in flat races, but nobody is letting him go up the road solo and he hasn’t done that well in group sprints. The guys he’s racing with have more than enough power to hold his wheel, the draft benefit is huge if he’s on the front pushing ~500 watts. But yeah, he’d drop all us weekend warriors if he showed up to the local group ride.
I think he would be a great time trailer. It seems like his equipment is always really dialed and he has the strength!
