Michael Barry on performance and the power meter

Bike racers at every level of the sport are now breaking records in all disciplines whether the track, road or dirt. The evolution in speed is a result of data analysis and can be specifically linked to the powermeter, a device on a bicycle which measures the power output of a cyclist in watts.

Plus ça change, well actually…

Twenty years ago, most professional cyclists had a limited grasp of aerodynamics and efficiency. Few products, bikes or riders’ positions had been tested in a wind tunnel due to expense and access. Without being able to gauge an athlete’s energy expenditure in the wind tunnel, the results were confined to how aerodynamic the rider was in a static position. The efficiency of the cyclist in varied conditions was impossible to quantify.

Sean Yates (Gbr) wins the stage 6, 52km individual time trial of the 1988 Tour de France at the time in a record average speed. pic.twitter.com/eF4Fu9L1KZ

— The World of Cycling (@twocGAME) July 2, 2021

Time trials were ridden on low profile bikes with disc wheels and tri spokes and deep section carbon or aluminum rims were used on the road, yet skinsuits weren’t tight fitting and were used solely in time trials. On the road, jerseys were baggy, letting the air flow over our skin to keep cool, and body position on the bike wasn’t yet refined to slice through the air. We rode narrow tires that were pumped to 120 psi believing narrower and harder tires had less rolling resistance and were faster. Helmets were bulky.

The evolution of data by way of the power meter

We understood certain performance elements but now know that we were completely wrong with others. Few, if any, people had put all the pieces together to see the cyclist, their nutrition, sleep, mental health and the bike as one unit. In today’s peloton, where power meters are universally used on training and racing bikes, every piece of clothing has been optimized while training, diet and sleep are closely monitored which has resulted in the peloton moving faster than ever. No longer do riders and coaches focus solely on heart rate, time and speed but also on watts and kilojoules.

Watts for the win

The proliferation of powermeters in the late ’90s to the early 2000s instantly changed the way we trained and understood workload. From 1999 to 2002, Dr. Allen Lim coached me while he was working on his PhD at the University of Colorado. His research was based around the power meter and power analysis. Through analyzing tens of thousands of power files he could see trends, and from that began developing theories on how power affected overall performance.

He realized he could test the aerodynamics of any cyclist using Eiffel’s formula of tractive resistance and proved it by having us ride up and down a runaway in varied positions. A cyclist’s climbing efficiency at different cadences was tested on a climb just outside of Boulder, CO. With the power meter Allen was able to see what the variables were that influenced performance and, then, quantify them, changing the way we approached training and racing.

Training and adaptations

Allen explains, “before power meters, trying to understand the relationship between training load and our adaptive response wasn’t a cause and effect or dose-response relationship. It was an effect-effect or response-response relationship, in so much that we were using two dependent relationships like heart rate response or perceived exertion to infer training load rather than measuring the actual stress or power causing that response.

Training load or power is the force over time-the “stress” that bends a stick-the cause. How much that stick bends – the “strain” or responses like heart rate, changes in blood lactate, oxygen consumption, and perceived exertion are the resulting effect. If you’re trying to understand cause and effect, you have to measure power.”

Debunking myths in training

The numbers our power meters produced progressively linked the chain of a multitude of performance aspects in cycling that had been siloed. It also dispelled many performance beliefs which were based in lore or pseudo science. We once believed it was beneficial to come home from a ride depleted and hungry.

But now, we understand that by consuming large quantities of carbohydrates while riding, you could see a direct correlation to power output and recovery. The numbers paint a clear picture: eating for the workload allows a cyclist to maintain power over a prolonged period. Without fueling for the effort, the output diminishes.

A tighter jersey meant going the same speed at a lower power. In fact, we learned that the gains of aerodynamic clothing were greater than anything we could do through training. Bigger tires with supple casing meant lower rolling resistance which could be easily quantified with a power meter.

Whether on the road, track or mountain bike, the power meter influenced our understanding of cadence. The device made it apparent that lower torque and higher cadence on the road is more efficient while bigger gears on the velodrome led to higher speeds. Both disciplines had been heavily skewed towards inefficient pedaling (too low on the road and too high on the track). Records tumbled.

No longer do we see professionals out of the saddle, mashing their gears and throwing their bodies around to accelerate up a climb. Instead, they stay in a more aerodynamic seated position, pedaling at a high cadence.

Sports science to analyze

Professional teams began to hire sports scientists to analyze every minimal gain. Team Sky, the last team that I rode with from 2010-2012, that began to take this to another level, hiring specialists responsible for our nutrition to our clothing to our bike technology. Every known variable was analyzed and optimized. The validity of changes could be seen through power data, and ultimately, results in the races.

Clothing and bicycle design quickly evolved and riders’ positions were optimized to be as fast as possible within the governing body’s regulations. The advances have trickled down to the amateur on the local group ride. With the availability of coefficient of aerodynamic drag (CdA) formulas, affordable Aerosensors, and shared knowledge on the internet, everyone is going faster than past generations. The 2024 Milan San Remo, Tour of Flanders and Paris Roubaix were the fastest editions on record while climbing times in the mountains and records on the velodrome tumble regularly.

Speed has come at expense of safety

The focus on speed has often come at the expense of rider safety, as has been seen this racing season with numerous horrific crashes where many of the sport’s top stars have been seriously injured. Performance scientists are hired to make riders go faster without having to consider whether or not a rider can properly handle the bike on a technical course in a flying peloton. And, as with doping, health is often secondary to performance in the minds of many athletes and teams; athletes will take significant and short sighted health risks to win.

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As a result, of the increased speeds and crashes, the primary stakeholders of professional road cycling– the riders, teams, race organizers and the UCI–united to establish SafeR. This independent entity was tasked with ensuring better oversight of rider and race safety. Notably, my former teammate, Michael Rogers played a pivotal role in getting SafeR off the ground. A multiple world time trial Champion, Rogers has a deep understanding of aerodynamics and performance. He also witnessed the shift in speed of the peloton and the risk averse mentality progressively creep in. With his experience, and with modern technology and monitoring systems, they can better understand why and how crashes are caused with the hope of mitigating them through behaviour change, regulation and most importantly education.

Too many gains?

As gains are refined, and the science of sport is better understood, the cyclist will soon reach a maximum velocity within the UCI technical regulations. To win, teams need to control as many variables as possible and will increasingly shift their focus towards strategy and tactical development as there are still significant gaps in this area in comparison to most other professional sports. In fact, the gaps are likely larger now than they were twenty years ago, as they have been neglected due to the intense focus on power and aerodynamics. And, more importantly rider safety still needs to be addressed at all levels, injury remains common and, along with illness, are the factors that most greatly affect the results of most teams.

Michael Barry is a former WorldTour rider and co-owner of Mariposa Bicycles