Analysis: Mathieu van der Poel's 1,300-watt Strade Bianche-winning power data
Final attack in Siena peaks at 1,362 watts after averaging 318 watts for almost five hours
Mathieu van der Poel has uploaded the full ride data from his recent win at Strade Bianche to Strava, offering complete transparency into his power and heart rate from the ride.
The data reveals the sheer enormity of his performance, showcasing just how much power was needed to win the early spring classic race. It also gives us insight into the Dutchman's FTP, and enables us to compare his performance to that of his rivals on the day, as well as past editions of the race.
It's not the first time the Alpecin-Fenix leader has shared his data via the platform. He famously uploaded his data after his 2019 win at Amstel Gold, and more recently, he gave indications of his form going into the 2020 season when he took the KOM on the Col du Petit Saint-Bernard.
For the final stinging attack in which he distanced Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck QuickStep) and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), Van der Poel saw his peak power for the day, reaching 1,362 watts, continuing to put out 1,105 watts for 15 seconds, before averaging 556 watts for the remaining one minute and 23 seconds of the climb.
What's more, for his earlier attack on Le Tolfe that successfully distanced his eternal rival Wout van Aert, as well as Tadej Pogačar, Tom Pidcock and Michael Gogl, he peaked at 1,035 watts in the middle of a 774-watt effort that lasted 50 seconds, before continuing his effort to average 522 watts for two minutes and 25 seconds.
From there onwards, the pace didn't let up. For the 18 minutes and 34 seconds that separated that attack and the finish line, Van der Poel averaged 402 watts, covering the 12.1km distance at an average speed of 39.2kph.
Judging by the zone distribution chart that accompanies the data, Van der Poel's FTP currently sits somewhere around the 420-watt mark, so despite averaging over 400 watts for this final portion of the race, it would still have afforded him some time to recover and prepare for that race-winning kick into the Piazza del Campo.
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The race may have been won with those two accelerations, but a lot of work went into the hours that preceded. For the entire four and three-quarter hours of racing, Van der Poel averaged 318 watts and a heart rate of 148 beats per minute, with various additional efforts throughout following the ebb and flow of the race.
The Strade Bianche route includes two significant climbs. The first is an off-road ascent from Salita Bagnaia to Grotti. Van der Poel went up this climb with the peloton, averaging 447 watts for the 7minute and 11 seconds effort.
The second, the Montalcino, is the longest climb of the day. For this ascent, the Dutchman averaged 376 watts over 14 minutes and 11 seconds, with the peak output during this climb of 889 watts coming at the crest.
Throughout the race, Van der Poel picked up nine KOMs, including one covering the final 25km of the race, as well as a segment covering the final 630 metres. However, interestingly, despite his explosive ascent up the final climb into Piazza del Campo, it was only good enough for eighth place, nine seconds slower than his now-teammate Petr Vakoč managed in 2016.
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As the Tech Editor here at Cyclingnews, Josh leads on content relating to all-things tech, including bikes, kit and components in order to cover product launches and curate our world-class buying guides, reviews and deals. Alongside this, his love for WorldTour racing and eagle eyes mean he's often breaking tech stories from the pro peloton too.
On the bike, 32-year-old Josh has been riding and racing since his early teens. He started out racing cross country when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s and has never looked back. He's always training for the next big event and is keen to get his hands on the newest tech to help. He enjoys a good long ride on road or gravel, but he's most alive when he's elbow-to-elbow in a local criterium.