WorldTour rider Cameron Meyer of Orica-GreenEdge is the latest victor of Australia's longest running cycling stage race – the 62nd edition of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour. He joins Stuart O'Grady and Simon Gerrans in the exclusive club of riders who've won both this race and the Tour Down Under.
So what did it take the multiple-times track world champion to win this year's Jayco Herald Sun Tour? Well, Meyer's coach, Ben Day of DaybyDay Coaching, has sent BikeRadar the 27-year-old's SRM power files from the decisive stages one and four for review. Here we get a glimpse of the power numbers WorldTour riders produce.
Just 10km into stage one turned out to be the decisive moment of the entire tour, as the steep side of Mount Macedon left just 21 riders in the front group fighting for victory. Over 5.5km and with an 8% gradient, Meyer had to put out an average of 370W (5.4W/kg) and 390W (5.7W/kg) normalized power for more than 16 minutes.
Meyer's data from stage one
Having been in the break for over 135km and with 10km to go, Meyer committed to the finish line – with Joe Cooper (Avanti) as company. For 13 minutes, Meyer averaged 383W (5.6W/kg) and 411W (6.0W/kg) normalized power, maintaining an average of 45km/h all the way to the finish line. His final sprint was an elongated one, jumping early and holding 792W for 29 seconds – showing great anaerobic capacity, grabbing the stage win and building a slender lead in the overall classification.
Fast forwarding to the final stage of the tour and all the riders had one particular parcour in mind, with three ascents up Victoria's famed Arthur's Seat climb in the final segment of the stage. With general classification so tight across a number of riders, the danger was that Meyer would be isolated before the climb to the finish line. Along with the help of his Orica-GreenEdge team, Meyer averaged a normalized power of 322W for 2:54 and 122km over the entire stage.
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Meyer's data from the final stage
The first ascent of the 3.5km climb was completed in 9min 40sec with Meyer averaging 393W (5.7W/kg). Ascent two saw the climb pass in 9min 58sec at an average of 380W (5.5W/kg) with the race settling down a little before the final push to the line.
The final ascent, as expected, went ballistic as the front group covered the climb in 8min 43sec and Meyer, showing his form, answered the call to average an impressive 448W (6.5W/kg) and finish 2nd across the line to Patty Bevin (Avanti), a man with a fast finish. This secured Meyer's Jayco Herald Sun Tour victory, winning the overall, the points jersey and his Orica-GreenEdge teammates taking the teams classification.
Thanks to DaybyDay Coaching and Cameron Meyer for sharing this information. Follow them and the Orica-GreenEdge team on Twitter for more race analysis throughout the season.
