On the 9th of October 2010 Ellen van Vugt (Netherlands) and Axel Fehlau (Germany) improved the existing 6h world records for human powered vehicles.

Location
The attempts took place at the test track of the Adam Opel GmbH Motor Company in Dudenhofen/Germany. The altitude is appr. 120 m above sea level. The track is a circle with a length of 4,77932 km with banked curves. There are three lines of tarmac for speed testing and an inner roll out line of concrete tiles. The length of the lowest tarmac line is base for the distance calculation. The track is equipped with light.

Vehicles
The riders rode the fully streamlined twowheelers "Speedhawk2". The vehicles are designed by Ralf Siber together with the VRT-speebike team (Guido Mertens, Hans v. Vugt, Rob Jansen, Stefan Goroncy).

"Speedhawk 2" without the full streamlining

Timing equipment and calculation
Time was kept manually with a radio synchronized clock. The riders had to finish the last lap after having gone for 6 hours. The distance calculation includes the portion of the last lap, which was required to finish 6 hours. In oder to reflect the inaccuracy of the manual time keeping in the calculation one second of tolerance was respected.

Environmental conditions
The sky was clear. The runs started at a temperature of appr. 19°C and dropped over time to 9°C. The humidity increased over time to mo re than 80%.

Observers
Martin Staubach (Germany) observed the run. A chase car with two passengers from the teams followed the vehicle in a distance of appr. 100m to watch it keeping track, for safety reasons and at night for lighting the track. Besides the riders and the observer 6 people of the team were attending the runs.

Safety
The riders wore a SNELL/ANSI approved helmet. At the start the vehicles were supported for appr. 10 meters until the riders were fast enough to ride free.

Ellen van Vugt
The run started at 17:11:36. She had some trouble with the vehicle in lap 15 but was able to fix it on the way. She made a stop in lap 59 to dry the moisturized plexiglass hood and regain transparency. Ellen completed 71 laps.
Calculation: Ellen rode 71 laps in 06:00:40hours. This is a total of 339,332 km, average speed 56,45km/h. She rode 00:00:41hours above 06:00:00 (including one second tolerance added) which results in a distance of 0,643km which are subtracted from the total distance. This results in a total distance over 6hours of 338,689km with an average speed 56,448km/h.

Axel Fehlau
The run started at 17:32:52. Due to a different setup of the intake nozzle and ventilation Axel had no issues with moisture inside the vehicle and could finish the ride without intermediate stops. Axel completed 90 laps.
Calculation: Axel rode 90 laps in 06:02:42hours. This is a total of 430,139km, average speed 71,16km/h. He rode 00:02:43hours above 06:00:00 (including one second tolerance added) which results in a distance of 3,222km which are subtracted from the total distance.
This results in a total distance over 6hours of 426,917km with an average speed 71,153km/h.

Knowing his capabilities and using the SRM Training System as a tool to control his performance made it possible to break the world record. It's interesting to see that Axel was pedaling the whole six hours without any rest. His very constant heart rate is also a good proof of a very consistent ride and enough fluid intake.

Axel Fehlau preparing for the ride. Psychological factors of a 6 hour ride can't be underestimated.

In a good mood Axel started into his ride. He knew that he's well prepared e.g. the energy requirements were calculated as exact as possible so he had enough carbohydrates for the ride.

Thanks a lot to Martin Staubach (STAPS) for the article.

Australian cyclists are proud of the fact that their performances are consistently earning them a mention in sports news headlines. We can often read about one of our own arriving on or delivering his teammate on a prestigious dais. This certainly was not the case just 15 years ago.

So it can be said that Australian cyclists are and have been doing something right for a few years now. What has caused this surge in standard of Aussie cyclists?

Dr David T. Martin is a Senior Physiologist at the Australian Institute of Sport responsible for research activities and providing physiological support for AIS and Cycling Australia Programs. He has a great history working with Cycling in Australia since the early 90‘s.
David has been integral to success of Australian cycling over the past fifteen years and apart from his superior knowledge, brings his passion, enthusiasm and creativity keeping Australian cycling at the forefront of sports science and performance technology.

Rachel Neylan (www.rachelneylan.com) spoke with Dr. Martin to get a solid grounding on the evolution of SRM training in Australian cycling and how a hand crafted Australian cycling performance culture is currently powering forward.

That's correct, there are a lot of different methods. Normally the most important fact is to use a test that is sport-specific, and use multiple parameters for training optimization.

The most meaningful test in performance diagnostics is the spiro-ergometry. It is also called the "gold standard" of performance diagnostics.

Spiro-ergometry measures respiratory gases during exercise - especially oxygen and carbon dioxide. At the same time power, heart rate and blood lactate concentration are measured and recorded. You get an impression of the endurance capacity and the individual energy metabolism of each athlete.
Very important criteria for training optimization are for example maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max), aerobic and anaerobic energy metabolism and thresholds and the total energy consumption (fat- and carbohydrate metabolism).

Perfect start of the season: André Greipel wins three stages and the overall classement of Tour Down Under (photo by Tim de Waele www.tdwsport.com)

Yes, of course. It is really exciting to have the opportunity to work with these athletes, and also the "sprint train". This is especially interesting as an exercise physiologist.
The combination of lab testing and power measurement in races has provided a huge amount of important information about the abilities and demands of lead out riders.