Watching the Tour of Flanders last weekend and then some highlights since, I’m fascinated by how some riders can take off alone after gaining what looks to be a relatively small bit of distance over a climb. Two examples would be Pogacar dropping van der Poel this weekend and Cancellara dropping Sagan in 2013. It’s not like they have anyone in front of them to catch their slipstream. Once they gain a few metres on a climb, these guys look unstoppable. What’s happening here?
In: 51
Everyone is already “on their limit” when they are goign up a climb that late in a race. If you spend too much time at your limit, or if you cross your limit too much, your body essentially shuts everything down. No matter how hard you try, your legs literally do not have the ability to push harder because they are too full of lactic acid.
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