The Giro Donne has left a long trail behind it, which will continue to keep fans talking until July 27th, start date of Tour de France Women's cycling. Following the UAE ADQ Team there was Simone Casonato, performance coach of the girls of Arzeni. Casonato had the opportunity to read the race from the inside, experiencing it moment by moment: thanks to his technical eye, we immersed ourselves in these nine stages.
Nine days of work
That of the coach of the UAE Team ADQ was a 360-degree effort, aimed at interpreting the performance of its athletes and more.
«My work – he says – took place in two main moments: the pre-stage and the post-stage. In the pre-start phase, I made a prediction about the girls' performances, in terms of energy expended. I analyzed the route and its key points, thanks to various software and spreadsheets, I provided an estimate of the energy expressed during each moment of the stageA job that went hand in hand with that of our nutritionist: Erica Lombardi.
«After the stage – continues Casonato – the analysis concerned the performance of our girls and our opponents. Something extremely useful for our sports directors and beyond."
So you could say you had an eye on the whole Giro Donne: what did you think of the performance of Van Vleuten?
It has proven to be a notch above the rest, theand his performances were in line with his best values of 2022, expressed during the Tour de France Femmes. In particular with the stage of Super Board of Beautiful Girls, where he performed his best numbers ever.
What was impressive was his consistency…
Not only that. She manages to express high values both consecutively and throughout all stages. To give you an example: It manages to maintain a peak of around 5,5 watts per kilo on 20-minute climbs, even consecutive ones. She was able to report this data during all nine stages (which became eight due to thecancellation of the initial time trial, editor's note).
One of the surprises of this Giro Donne was Gaia Realini.
It has proven to be extremely solid, This is evidenced by the fact that she finished third in the overall standings, taking home the jersey for best young player. He performed at high levels on multiple terrains: in the queen stage, the one to Ceres, she was the only one to follow Van Vleuten uphill. While in the Alassio stage he showed a great explosiveness, a key characteristic for following the top athletes. She's only 21 years old and has certainly made it clear that she's one of the best athletes of the future.
As for yours, Chiara Consonni's victory in the final stage is worth highlighting…
Chiara had a growing final, which, considering her young age, is a good sign. Winning at the end of a grand Giro is synonymous with solidityIn the Olbia sprint he had a minimal decrease in peak power compared to his best performance. For a sprinter this is a great statistic that denotes great neuromuscular qualities.
Silvia Perch instead he got a nice top 10, right?
It held up well on all stages, The cancellation of the prologue certainly didn't play in his favorShe could have done well there. Silvia showed good endurance both on short climbs, typical of her, and on longer climbs.
Were there any other data that struck you?
One in particular: that is, that the average intensity of a stage in the Women's cycling's Giro is higher than that of the men. A factor certainly determined by the distance traveled in each stageThe longest stage was the fourth, at 134 kilometers. A study has shown that During a race, women remain in Zone 4 for a longer time, precisely 13%, compared to men.Men stay in that effort range, which varies between 91 and 105% for 20% of the total race time. Women's cycling reach as high as 33%.
Let's go back to Van Vleuten for a moment. You said she spoke about her best qualities. Will she be able to maintain them until the end of the Tour?
It must be said that she never held back, despite having a large lead over her opponents. In the two weeks between the Giro and the Tour, rest becomes essentialVan Vleuten has certainly won all three Grand Tours since 2021, and he certainly has significant psychological security. However, an analysis is needed.
Tell us.
In 2023, the Dutch rider started off "slowly" compared to last year. The calendar had changed; the Vuelta was the first major stage race, and that had an impact.
In fact, in Spain he won, but by only 9 seconds over Vollering.
Exactly, because he wasn't in top form. The data, on the Lagos de Covadonga climb, spoke of a deviation of 0,2/0,3 watts per kilo from its best performances. So much so that theVollering he gave her just under a minute.
Vollering arrived at the Vuelta Femenina from a Northern campaign lived as a dominator.
True, they had two completely different approaches to the season. Vollering hit peak form in April, which she used to ride a great Vuelta and put Van Vleuten in difficulty. The latter, however, started slower and then reached the best possible form in the Giro Donne and in the Tour Femmes.
Vollering, on the other hand, will be coming to the Tour after a long break; his last race was the national championship…
He divided the season into two blocks, a more canonical way to manage the condition. Van Vleuten's great advantage is that he can handle workloads that are unimaginable for others.In a year, he covers 33.000 kilometers and 430.000 meters of elevation gain. Let me give you a comparison: Valgren was one of the Astana riders who covered the most kilometers in 2018. He totaled 33.900 kilometers and accumulated 437.000 meters of elevation gain. Van Vleuten isn't that far behind.
The Tour de France Femmes will probably be decided in the last two stages: the finish at the Tourmalet and the final time trial.
This is why the Vollering-Van Vleuten duel is so fascinating. they come in so different ways that we have almost no idea how it might goAll we can do is enjoy this great spectacle, knowing that the heat will also play its part.
