Floyd Landis Speaks
We had a chance to catch up with Tour of California winner Floyd Landis (via our BMC brand manager Scott Thomson) and here’s what he had to say:
CBS: You had great success in the TOC TT and put in an extremely impressive result. Everyone has been asking about your arm/hand position. What can you tell us about the development of your position over the years and who have you worked with in perfecting the position?
Floyd: (Floyd deferred to his coach, Dr. Allen Lim) “I always start by asking the athlete, ‘what kind of position can you handle?’ From there, we come up with 5 or 10 ideas, and then you test them in the wind tunnel. It becomes a tedious, monotonous process of trial and error, but you can’t predict total drag by looking at frontal surface area. Body shape has as much to do with how much air the athlete catches. A fast position for one athlete can be slow for another. You have to test it. For Floyd, that meant 10 hours of testing at the Allied Aerospace Low Speed Wind Tunnel in San Diego.”
By looking at the numbers in the tunnel, we knew that this position made some dramatic improvements. Then using PVC pipe and Zip ties, we got him into the position. The result? The Tour of California came down to one day. The time trial won the race.
CBS: You spent a fair amount of time on the BMC Pro Machine last year and this year. Where do you feel this bike excels?
Floyd: “The weight is the biggest factor. Having the lightest bike around should get it done. The Pro Machine is lighter, and more comfortable, but you still don’t give anything up. It is really stiff at the bottom bracket. The bike is perfect for what I need it to do. BMC got all the details right.”
CBS: What was least expected part of the TOC? What surprises did you encounter?
Floyd: “Biggest surprise was the number of fans every day. I expected to see a lot of people on the weekends, but there were people all over the course every day. We do races in Europe that don’t have this kind of turn out.”
CBS: We’ve heard that you’re using a wireless Power Tap. What specific power data can you share from the TOC? What was your average watt output during the TT?
Floyd: “Actually, we don’t have a Power Tap in our disc wheels, so I don’t know what my watts were for the TT - and I would hate to guess.” However, Dr. Lim was happy to give us a guess: “My estimate is that Floyd averaged just above 400 watts for the time trial.” Dr. Lim had the numbers for the longest day of the race, stage 4 from Monterey to San Luis Obispo. “On Stage Four, Floyd burned 4,148 kilojoules, and averaged 246 watts over 4 hours and 41 minutes.”
CBS: Where do you see the TOC going in the future?
Floyd: “I hope it continues to grow, and goes to some new cities. There is so much great riding in California, you can’t go wrong.”
CBS: What was the vibe like among the teams and racers?
Floyd: “There were no complaints, it was sunny every day, the hotels were great, and the fan support was just awesome.” “Any time you can get roads closed in California for cyclists, it’s a big deal.”
Posted: February 28, 2006 by Cascade Bicycle Studio