An individual time trial is a straight-forward discipline that is used as introduction to cycling races in many countries. After a short introduction to the simple rules beginners are able to ride a fair time trial.
Nevertheless, time trials are difficult to master and even professionals can improve their time trialing significantly. It’s hard to understand that one rider is much better at the major events like the prologues of the Tour de France and World Championships than his opponents.
How can we explain the superiority of Fabian Cancellara?
1. Optimal Anatomy. Big riders perform better on flat time trials. More than 90% of power output is used to break the wind. Wind resistance is enemy number one in time trials. Nevertheless, obesity will always be punished so time trialists should be slim and fit like all other cyclists. Weighing around 80kg seems optimal for flat time trials, but lighter athletes can ride really great time trials.
2. Extraordinary Physiology. Like all other professional cyclists Cancellara must have an extraordinary physiology. One specific skill that must be superior is the threshold power. He is able to generate many Watts at his threshold power.
3. Perfect Body Position. An optimal body position minimizes the aerodynamic drag, thus, requiring less Watts to ride fast. Actually, body position is where you can make the biggest improvements on your overall aerodynamics. So, if you don’t have the budget to buy an expensive aerodynamic bike, please remember that a good body position is much more important than e.g. disc wheel etc.
4. Aerodynamic Equipment. Optimized aerodynamics includes proper materials that are optimized for body size, riding style and aerodynamics. I’m not sure whether Cancellara’s materials are any better than other professional riders but one thing that surely matters is that he continually optimizes his aerodynamic equipment. Visiting a wind tunnel is the best and most scientifically way to find the right combination of bike setup.
5. Mental Power. Racing against the clock is a special dispipline that some riders love and others hate. Being good at pacing yourself throughout a time trial is a skill that should be trained and mastered to become a world class time trialist.
6. Specific Time Trial Training. Cancellara trains specifically for time trials and the training is optimized towards improving his threshold power. It requires a great training amount and high quality training principles over years to develop a large aerobic engine.
7. Tapering for Major Competitions. Instead of focusing on great performance in races every single week, it’s important to give the highest priority to very few events throughout the season and make a proper tapering protocol for these events. That increases performance and the likeliness of success.
8. X-factor. History shows that some riders just ride much faster than everyone else and we will never be able answer why. I know what many people think about professional cyclists and I have the same thoughts regularly.
Though, we have to remember that one athlete always will be the fastest. That’s the game.
Thus, there might be other reasons than doping that will explain why riders like Fabian Cancellara is so much better than everyone else at time trials. If you have any suggestions, please share your thoughts in the comments section.