Scientists Made 12 Elite Cyclists Race For 6 Hours | Lars Nybo Interview

Finish your races more strongly 🥇

In this video, cyclist and Professor Lars Nybo discusses the results of a very interesting experiment on durability during a simulated bike race. This study adds to your understanding of durability, and when you apply this knowledge may help you more effectively conserve your energy for the later stages of your races.

// AUTHOR RESOURCES //

// WATTKG RESOURCES //

// TIMESTAMPS //
00:00 Intro
01:00 Why testing in the field matters
03:03 How they simulated a bike race
06:02 The participants vs age group riders
08:20 Peak power fatigue drop
09:06 Time trial performance drop (≈7 min power)
10:57 Individual variation in response
11:59 What is driving the loss of power?
13:09 What happened to fat oxidation?
17:45 Zone 2 training and fat max
18:09 Lactate response and what it means
22:48 Lars' advice on training to improve durability
25:50 Mads Pedersen anecdote (the best of the best)

If you enjoyed this video, don't forget to like and subscribe. And feel free to ask me anything about this topic in the comments below 👇

#durability #cycling #procycling

[wattkg]

Thanks for watching! Feel free to ask me any question you may have on durability or related topics in the comments below.

[jucu]

The mechanisms of fatigue are super interesting but I cant help but conclude from this interview that the only way to become more fatigue resistant is to become fitter and I kinda think we all knew that already 😜🤣. That laugh aside I think another aspect of our deteriorating performance in addition to the enzymes reduced ability to produce energy when exposed to heightened acid levels in the blood for extended periods would also be the actual physical damage (micro tears) in the muscles themselves. This is just me thinking but if the muscles have been degraded by many internal micro tears then those torn elements of the muscle have been removed from the equation and the remaining non-damaged fibres need to take up the slack. If you need to maintain certain peak watts in order not to get dropped yet a percentage of ur muscles are effectively not-engaging then the remaining have to work harder and be forced into higher anaerobic output and hence the feeling of higher lactic acid burn even at lower watts etc 🤷‍♂️
These are just ideas I have but if Im clearly talking rubbish please feel free to tell me bcos Im never worried about being humiliated so long as Im learning something 😉🤣

[Konzuug]

This was super interesting. Listened to the whole thing. Thanks

[ds]

Great stuff. This one and the one Hamish Fergusson were super interesting.

[jeremyleake]

Very interesting discussion, many thanks for sharing this. Fatigue resistance is a really important quality in races. I can see a clear argument for increasing resistance by increasing LT2 for the reasons you say but it can’t be the whole story if more experienced and seasoned riders have more fatigue resistance. That points to something they have adapted to over years (beyond LT2) or else their experience allows them to manage themselves better. On the latter is it possible those more experienced riders didn’t push themselves as hard earlier on relative to their capacity (peak power, LT2) as other riders knowing they would need to repeat? i.e. do they smooth their power output over a longer ride relative to their LT2/peak power?

[kyhlwinther]

Is this (and other) interview(s) available as a podcast? I rarely watch YouTube for a longer period of time but regularly listen to longer podcasts. Thanks for great content!

[TheFeatInk]

The premise of getting a bunch of fellas in the lab to simulate what the world tour guys do every day out in the field is hysterical.
Who needs a bloke in a labcoat to tell them that their peak power will reduce a tiny bit after 2hrs of riding when everyone who’s ever ridden a bike can tell you the exact same thing, just intuitively from feel.
What a tedious exercise.