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Coach Carmichael: Conservation and consumption

By Chris Carmichael, Carmichael Training Systems
Published: Jul. 19, 2003

At the highest levels of competition, there isn’t that much separating a great day from a bad one. We’re not talking about a huge change in power output or overall performance. At this level, being better or worse by a few percentage points can lead to either minutes gained or minutes lost.

Lance Armstrong lost about 6 kilograms of fluid weight between yesterday morning and the end of the stage-12 time trial, and also lost 1:36 to Jan Ullrich during that same time period. Losing 2 percent of your body weight due to dehydration leads to a 10-15 percent drop in performance, and Lance lost 8 percent. Even on the off chance that Lance read the scale wrong, he still lost enough weight to seriously hinder his performance during stage 12.

Dehydration is dangerous not only for its immediate effects on performance, but also its lingering effects. It’s absolutely exhausting to continue riding fast when dehydration starts to take hold. You end up calling on reserves you would rather save for some other time. The added stress of racing while dehydrated makes post-race recuperation more difficult as well.

Lance consumed a lot of water and sports drink throughout yesterday evening and this morning. Even though his waking body weight (measured after using the bathroom) was nearly normal, he knew it would be one more day before he regained all his power. During stage 13, he rode carefully and tried to conserve energy wherever he could. He ate and drank even more diligently than usual, and everything worked out pretty well.

All things considered, Lance put in a great performance to finish stage 13 only seven seconds behind Jan Ullrich, and to pass Alexander Vinokourov in the last 500 meters. If he were still suffering serious effects from dehydration, Lance would have been dropped in the opening kilometers of the climb, assuming he’d even made it that far. Rather, he was within a few percentage points of his normal performance, and was able to match his rivals until the final moments of the stage.

With another evening to recover before tomorrow’s difficult stage to Loudenvielle, Lance should be able to regain the rest of his power and have a good day.