Stage 20 of the Tour de France was 125 kilometers with over 3,200 meters of climbing. The course, ridden by l'Etape du Tour amateurs the week before, began on the shores of Lake Annecy and finished atop the HC climb, Annecy-Semnoz.
Movistar Team's top young rider, Nairo Quintana, took the stage win ahead of Froome and Rodriguez. He claimed the polka-dot jersey and moved into second place overall.
Riding with Movistar Team and Quintana was Vuelta a España winner and famous all-rounder, Alejandro Valverde. Below is the Spanish professional's SRM race file illustrating the demands of Stage 20.
At approximately 60kg, Valverde averaged 260 watts over the 125km stage in the French Alps. His average cadence was 72rpm at a 33.4kph average speed. The stage required over 3,500 kilocalories, for a fun comparison this is about 20 glasses of the popular Spanish wine, Rioja.
Valverde reached the first summit of the day, Côte du Puget, after only 12.5km. The Cat 2 climb was only 5.5km long and he reached the top in 14 minutes with 313 average watts. His max power in this section was 757 watts with a 95rpm cadence.
The Cat 1 climb, Mont Revard, was nearly 16km in length with an elevation gain of 837 meters. Alejandro averaged just under 300 watts with a 79rpm average cadence during this 40 minute effort.
Valverde completed the Mont Revard descent into Montcel in 14 minutes with an average speed of over 61kph, max speed in this segment was 71kph. He delivered several power peaks over 470 watts as he navigated the downhill route.
In the final climb to the mountain top finish Alejandro Valverde averaged over 360 watts with a max power of 703 watts midway to the top. He completed the ascent with an average speed of 21kph and 78rpm average cadence.
Valverde finished 4th for the day, less than 2 minutes behind his winning teammate, Nairo Quintana, and moved up to the 8th in the GC.
Leave a comment