Despite taking the descents very conservatively and losing the first group over the first climb, it went well, as I ended up 50th or so. This is almost in the first 1% if you are optimistic and think of the 4500 starters.
I averaged 320watts on the Kuhtai for 1:01:04 (4.3watts/kg). The first 10 minutes were pretty hard, trying to catch the leaders from some 200 places back. After catching them, I paid for the effort. As I was stuck behind a gap at some point, they rode off for good. Interesting, my pulse dropped from 180 at the start to 170 at the end...
On the Brenner pass, we were the second group, and while the lead pack of 50 or so riders motored up in 1:02:00, we were riding like tourists, taking 1:11:00. I was happy with the pace at the time though, as I didn't feel that good after the Kuhtai. Here I averaged 240watts for the 1:11 (3.2watts/kg). This is upper Grundlage for me, so not really very hard.
From the start of Brenner onwards, there was nobody handing me food or water, so it was not going to be easy; I lost a minute at the top while scavenging the feed area, and then wasted some serious energy with a seven minute chase at 320-330watts on the slight downhill to catch the group again. It doesn't sound like much, but after the climbing, believe me, it was hard.
By now, Ewald Robeischl and Gabriel Maresch were way up the road with the first group, as were Specialized-Mountainbiker.at teammates Bernhard Laimgruber and Daniel Rubisoier. We wanted to have a go at the team competition, so that was good news.
My plan was to do the Jaufen Pass like a time trial to compare with last year. It seemed a bit too fast at first, but this is normally better for me on a climb. It worked out, and I managed to ride consistently without any melt-down. It turned out to be 295watts average over 58:42 (3.9 watts/kg). I don't think I could have gone much faster- pushing the 39x23 while seated most of the way, with some 25 at the top. If you look at the power data however, you can see that I was actually getting slower and slower. My pulse started at 170, ended around 160 by the top.
The start of the Timmelsjoch didn't go very well. This also happened last year, so I knew to try to stay calm and patient and just keep cruising until I felt better. It took a good half hour, but eventually some strength came back, so it was time to push on in time-trial mode again. I averaged 260watts for 1:51:00-- (3.5watts/kg) which is low tempo zone for me, and pulse was 151 the entire time, which is barely above Grundlage. According to DataSport, this was good for the 29th fastest climb of the day despite three stops for water and Red Bull, so still not bad.
As the radmarathon went on, the wattage and pulse went down and down. The funny thing is, I was putting out 270 watts for the first hour of Timmelsjoch when I felt crap, and 250 watts for the second hour when I felt strong and aggressive! This is why I like my power meter: I can´t rely on how my body feels, because it is always wrong.
Also interesting: I haven't done a single "endurance" or grundlage ride since February, and this seems to have worked very well. Thanks to my coach Jan, who has kicked me in the pants since winter telling me to stop with the grundlage and focus on quality.
Robeischl has proven that he has what it takes to ride against some of the best in Europe. But we´ll have to wait until he gets a power meter to analyse what the real strongmen do on the climbs.