Colnago Mixte

From the racing thread, thought I would re-post it here since it's some exceptionally compelling race video.

Consists of footage taken from the helmet cam of the eventual winner, Justin Williams. He's hitting 1400 watts right out of the starting gate, and frequently hits 35+ during the race (speed and power output are in the corner of the screen) he's an incredibly strong rider, passes the others like a motorcycle at times. He also won the road race the previous day, this guy is really good and on form.


I guess the crash near the beginning caused some controversy. At first i thought it might be Justin's fault, but after watching it a few times, I conclude that it was likely the fault of the rider who went down. Another prime example (IMHO) of someone looking back at a crash, and causing another crash. This is why in stressful cycling situations, you should always keep your attention on what's in front of you, what's behind you Does Not Matter.

Greatestalltime

Colnago Mixte

I dunno. You hear about 40 mph sprints in the Tour de France, but this guy never broke 40 and still won.

I suspect that the people competing in the Tour are probably at a whole "nother" level beyond this. Justin might get dropped like the amateur he is, racing against a professional like Sagan.

IMO, the people racing in the video above are probably close to the limits of what can be achieved without PED's. But as we have seen, such limits don't exist for many Tour riders, at least until they get caught.

WhyFi

IIRC, Justin himself says that he thinks that he could be a good lead-out man on the pro tour, so that's where he thinks he'd fit. There's plenty of footage of him out there, though, hitting 1700w+ and 40mph+ at the end of a race -


He says that he's never the strongest guy in the field, but he's smart and makes good, quick decisions. He's an interesting guy.

dougphoto

He's amazing and has been really cleaning up this season. he won back to back nationals this year, Road and Crit. I'd love to see him crushing it in Europe. here's an article on him from Bicycling mag His brother is also really fast.

Steeljag

Colnago Mixte

Which is exactly something you'd expect the strongest guy in the field to say, if he wants to keep winning.

What I noticed in the video was how fast his reactions were. You could be the strongest guy in the field, but if you crash or miss a breakaway, what does it matter?

I have to wonder whether those reflexes are another big thing that separates men's and women's fields. I could be wrong, but I don't typically see women on bikes reacting quite that quickly. Lots of what looks like unnecessary pushing of other riders around, appears to be intimidation more than anything else, but again, I could be wrong.

TMonk

For road, there are separate National Champs for Road Race, Criterium and Time Trial.

Colnago Mixte

Justin also won the road race held the day before.

TMonk

Justin has raced in Europe before, on Pro Tour level IIRC. Tour of Oman or something? Maybe I'm remembering that incorrectly.

At any rate both Williams bros (Justin and Cory) are class acts and genuinely nice guys as well. They won't hesitate to smile, wave and say hello at any race around here, no matter your age, sex or racing level.

exmechanic89

Wow, he is strong!

redlude97

I assume you've seen the other angle from behind?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h661...utu.be&t=4m12s

Its not so clear, its racing, not malicious, but also not completely blameless IMO

TrojanHorse

Just asking, but what's supposed to happen there? It looks like the crash victim was drifting left and Justin was going right and the crasher was caught unaware and went down.

It didn't look like he was looking back, that's for sure.

redlude97

Since justin was coming from behind he could has just braked and not tried to squeeze into a gap that was obviously closing, but hey its crit racing, **** happens.

nycphotography

He went for a hole that was there, but the rider on the left, the outside, moved right, taking everyone else with him.

The rider on the right maybe should have sensed this movement and drifted slightly right as well. But he didn't.

No clear villain here, just racing. But HOLD YOUR LINE is unofficial rule #1 , so to me, the crash was caused by the rider on the left moving to the right less smoothly than he might have.

Colnago Mixte

Justin really takes off after the crash, solos off the front. Sometimes I wish I could do that when I get super-stressed. Nothing like a nice 850 watt power surge @37 mph to clear your mind of the troubles of the day, or so I'm told.

Abe_Froman

Wow he is crazy strong. About the crash...he sure looked like a reckless lunatic trying to jam his way through that tiny and shrinking gap. But of course I think all crit racers are reckless lunatics...I dont have the balls to try one

LAJ

Sometimes, it's not about waiting for a hole to open, it's about getting there before the hole completely closes up.

logical

The only cycling guy I follow on youtube he is definitely a beast.

MSchott

He sure doesn't hesitate before making his moves. He sees a hole and goes for it. And he has the strength to do it.

rubiksoval

About a 100-110 miles for the road race. Crit is only 75 minutes. TT is around 30 miles.

rubiksoval

It doesn't. It's apples to oranges. Crits are not road races. He'd be nowhere near anything at the end of a world tour race.

Sagan would probably ride it like any other race he does. Wouldn't be that big a deal for him, I imagine, save for the lots of falling over that happens at crit nats.

rubiksoval

People in the video are likely at the limit of their genetic capabilities, and generally with a full time job and/or family to go along with it.

At this point, to progress any further in the sport, you need to be a genetic superfreak.

sally552

What brand of frame and wheelset does he use?

WhyFi

He's sponsored by Specialized, iirc, so Spec and Roval, respectively.

edit: yeah, if you look at the video in post 12, at about 4:04 you can see that he's riding a disc-equipped SWorks frame with Rovals.