You certainly won’t discover today that pedaling behind another cyclist saves a lot of energy. This advantage within a triathlon race becomes even more important because it acquires a double significance. If you pedal behind one or more athletes, you can hold a much higher average speed than if you pedaled alone for the same amount of energy expended. Moreover, this energy saving also gives you an advantage in the next fraction: running. In fact, after riding in the slipstream you have the opportunity to run much faster. Today let’s look at the extent to which you can gain benefits and how to use them in your upcoming competitions.
The drag generated by air (or water in swimming) represents one of the forces you need to know and evaluate whenever you study the performance model of a discipline. The ability to proceed in slipstream allows you in various sports to reduce energy expenditure but also the psychological stress of having to continually manage your gait.
Draft or No Draft?
In order to better understand the performance differences that exist between a triathlon race in which it is possible to trail (drafting) and one in which this is not allowed (no drafting) let’s go over the results of some studies done on the subject. The most interesting and specific test analyzed some of the most important metabolic parameters in ten triathletes undergoing two sprint distance races. The two race simulations were separated by several days of rest to allow for full recovery. In the first one after swimming they pedaled without being able to take advantage of a drafting situation. In the second one after swimming each of them pedaled in the wake behind a cyclist whose task was to reproduce the same performance in terms of duration that they had achieved within the first trial. The goal was clear. To understand for the same time over the same distance how the effort realized and perceived by the athlete changed in the two different situations.
In the final 5-kilometer run in both situations (draft and no draft) athletes were not given time and speed benchmarks so as to stimulate maximum performance over the distance as much as possible.
To make the test results more reliable, the athletes were checked to make sure that the swimming time was the same in the two tests. In this way, the difference in running performance would have depended only on the different fatigue during cycling. Data collected during the two biking sessions (no draft and draft, respectively) showed that staying in the slipstream, for the same chronometric performance, resulted in more than 15 percent lower oxygen consumption and at least 10 percent lower average heart rate. In addition, the most relevant difference concerns the level of lactic acid in the blood. After the no draft fraction, lactate exceeded 6mmol going well above the anaerobic threshold level. While during the fraction performed in the wake, lactate remained below threshold levels reaching an average of 3.5mmol.
What kind of impact was there on running after the two different bike sessions? First of all, the most important thing: the result. After the bike fraction entirely in the slipstream, the final time of the run was faster by about 4 percent. Obviously having saved a lot of energy in the bike, during the running fraction all the athletes were able to push much harder reaching higher heart rate values and showing higher oxygen consumption. This study measured a fact that you already knew in general terms.
In practice
This is the theory. But in practical terms, what kind of information can you glean from these deeper analyses of the sprint triathlon performance model? Let’s take a step back. In order to stay in the wake within the faster groups, it is necessary to get out of the swim well. You have to keep in mind that in competitions that allow the wake (sprint and Olympic) swimming is of greater value than in longer distance races where, tactically, you can catch up between bike and run any delay in the first split. Once you have come out of swimming well, you must also have the technical skills necessary to ride efficiently and safely within a group. It is not enough for this type of race to train only conditional skills, but you must also devote a portion of your training to improving your ability to drive the “vehicle.” If you have no one to help you with this, you can participate in circuit cycling races. These are usually short races but conducted at a very high pace and always in groups. An excellent school for learning to pedal or inches from other cyclists. To be able to stay with the fastest groups, you also have to be able to respond to all the relaunches that characterize these races after every change in direction and especially after the turnarounds. It is essential from a tactical point of view to learn well how to use the gearbox during deceleration and the subsequent relaunch but also to have trained your neuromuscular capacity with very specific work.
Staying in the slipstream pays off and saves you energy for the next fraction. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Always remember that triathlon is not the sum of three separate disciplines but the synthesis of the three where each is strongly related to the previous ones and conditioned by the next. So in each of the fractions you must always manage the efforts you have already made and evaluate the ones you will have to face.
Want to run faster in the third leg of the triathlon? It is not enough to train running. You need to improve your level in swimming to come out earlier and less tired from the first split. You must also have developed the metabolic, muscular and technical skills that will enable you to handle the cycling fraction well in a group, saving energy and gaining valuable minutes.
(Photo by Victoire Joncheray on Unsplash)