Inside Human Powered Health’s aggressive Tour de France Femmes Stage 1
Ben Delaney
The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift kicked off Sunday with a circuit on Champs-Élysées in Paris, and Human Powered Health was aggressive throughout.
Henrietta Christie made the longest lasting break of the day, when she bridged up to a solo move by Pauline Allin (Arkea Pro Cycling). Christie rode at 113% of her threshold power to stay off the front.
Christie bridging up to Allin on the Champs-Élysées. Photo: ASO / Maheux
Here is a look at the data of a few Human Powered Health riders in their debut performance at the Tour de France Femmes for the two-hour Stage 1.
Henrietta Christie on the attack
Christie logged a normalized power of 234 watts at an average speed of 25.3mph. Her intensity factor was .913 for a training stress score (TSS) of 179.
Christie's effort to get up to Allin. Graphic: FasCat Coaching
The peloton before the start in Paris. Photo: Human Powered Health
Christie and Allin averaged 26mph until they were caught by the peloton led by SD Worx, which was winding up the speed coming into an intermediate points sprint.
Antri Christoforou and Lily Williams conserve in the bunch
As seasoned racers, Antri Christoforou and Lily Williams focused on not overextending themselves when riding in the bunch on this flat stage. In looking at racers' data, we often look at 'zero time', meaning the amount of time a rider is doing zero watts because they are coasting. This can show how good a rider was able to draft, corner, and ultimately conserve energy in the peloton.
Read more about criterium racing and how you can become more efficient when racing in the bunch here.
Christoforou had a normalized power of 199 watts and an intensity factor of .741 for a 103 TSS.
Another helpful way to look at conservation — Williams wasn’t pedaling for 14% of the stage, which demonstrates great efficiency in the bunch. Her normalized power was 233 watts, or roughly 79% of her threshold power.
The Human Powered Health Tour de Frances Femmes team. Photo: Human Powered Health
Sleep and recovery stats
Henrietta came into the day primed and ready to go, with 8 full hours of sleep and a heart rate variability (HRV) of 120ms. Similarly, Barbara Malcotti had 8.9 hours of sleep with a 138.4 HRV, with a Whoop score of 82.
Marit Raaijmakers before the start in Paris. Photo: Human Powered Health
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Inside a Tour de France Femmes Training Camp
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Road Race In-Season
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- anaerobic efforts like criss cross, Over/Unders Sweet Spot, Threshold
Road Racing Intervals
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Foundation : 3 Weeks
- Perfect for all cyclists beginning off season training
- Raise your CTL and the all-important muscle tension intervals
Phil Gaimon's FONDO
- Complete similar workouts to what Phil does to prepare for all his KOM's
- Sweet Spot training, threshold intervals, and some anaerobic work
Phil Gaimon's Strava PR Plan
- Perfect Plan for Those with Less Training Time, starts at 15 minutes per day
- VO2's, 1 minuters, Tabatas, threshold, suprathreshold, and even Sweet Spot
Road Race In-Season
- Weekend racing and group rides with weekday training and recovery
- anaerobic efforts like criss cross, Over/Unders Sweet Spot, Threshold
Road Racing Intervals
- Increase your functional and race-specific power output
- Includes Sweet Spot, VO2, Anaerobic, Threshold