Alberto Contador took the KOM on the last climb of stage 17, and only three Tour de France riders went faster on Strava
Contador rides stage 17's finishing climb at a rapid 17.4kmh
Alberto Contador may have hung up his wheels at the end of last season, but the seven-time Grand Tour champion still seems to be in pretty good shape by the looks of a ride he uploaded to Strava on Wednesday.
Contador is working for Eurosport on this year's Tour de France, and took the opportunity to put down a marker on the Col de Portet on Wednesday morning, the final climb that the current pros would tackle later that day at the end of stage 17.
Riding a Trek Madone Disc and still looking pretty lean, the Spaniard powered up the 16km climb at an average speed 17.4kmh - seriously rapid when you consider the average gradient of more than eight per cent.
Contador also shared a photo of his Garmin stats of the ride, showing that he averaged a whopping 373 watts for the 55 minute effort. However this is still some way off the 458 watts that he managed in a 20-minute threshold test while at the peak of his powers a few years ago.
Whether Contador went out to smash it up the climb to see how he compares with the current crop of riders even in retirement, we don't know, but his time certainly held up pretty well when the race went up it a few hours later.
Watch: Tour de France stage 17 highlights
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Granted, the riders in the Tour had already tackled two mountain passes on the day and had 16 days of fatigue in their legs, but astonishingly Contador's time was only beaten by two riders on Strava.
Unsurprisingly it was Steven Kruijswijk who set the fastest time on Strava, climbing in yellow jersey group and finishing sixth on the stage to knock more than five minutes off Contador's KOM, while the French climbing duo of Romain Bardet and Warren Barguil also went faster as they finished 13th and 16th on the day.
>>> 'A beautiful stage with great racing': Teams reflect on the Tour de France's shortest stage
However the rest of the riders from the Tour peloton who are on Strava were not able to better Contador's time, with the 35-year-old climbing the mountain faster than the likes of Robert Gesink, Simon Geschke, Damiano Caruso, and Laurens Ten Dam.
As for some of those at the back of the field, Thomas De Gendt appears to have been the slowest of the pros up the climb, clocking a time that was 15 minutes slower than Contador had managed in the morning.
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Henry Robertshaw began his time at Cycling Weekly working with the tech team, writing reviews, buying guides and appearing in videos advising on how to dress for the seasons. He later moved over to the news team, where his work focused on the professional peloton as well as legislation and provision for cycling. He's since moved his career in a new direction, with a role at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
-
We rode and reviewed the Ouray, Parlee Cycles' first new bike model since facing bankruptcy
The storied American brand continues with a Portugal-made carbon steed that goes zoom but doesn’t fit like a race bike
By Tyler Boucher Published
-
Forget distance covered, these are the key stats to note in your Strava Year in Sport
We asked a coach how to best analyse our end of year Strava data
By Tom Davidson Published
-
Tadej Pogačar broke 288 Strava KOMs during Tour de France victory
Slovenian won his third Tour title in Nice last weekend, and picked up a host of new trophies on Strava
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
'Who TF flagged me?': Tadej Pogačar's achievement marked as questionable on Strava after Giro d’Italia stage victory
The queen stage of race featured the brutal Mortirolo pass and included more than 5,400 metres of elevation
By Tom Thewlis Last updated
-
Remco Evenepoel obliterates Tenerife's Mount Teide Strava KOM
Reigning World Champion currently in altitude training before next week's Volta a Catalunya
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
British rider takes Jebel Hafeet QOM, deletes Strava file
Claire Steels's bike was the fastest to the summit, but she wasn't riding it
By Tom Davidson Published
-
The dog days aren't over at the Tour de France 2022: Canine chaos AND cuteness
‘Suddenly that beast crossed the street and I couldn’t go anywhere’ - stray dog causes Yves Lampaert to crash on stage 12
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
'Expect anything at the Giro!': Riders react to 7 kilometre Giro Donne 'neutral zone' climb
Stage three of the Giro Donne might have had the toughest neutral opening section ever, a seven kilometre climb at an average of 7%
By Owen Rogers Published
-
Tom Pidcock returns to training after lingering knee injury and posts ride on Strava
Despite battling injury since February, Pidcock ha claimed Olympic gold, won his first pro road race, and completed his debut Grand Tour
By Alex Ballinger Published
-
Strava data reveals huge performances from Fausto Masnada, Alejandro Valverde, and Mike Woods in Il Lombardia 2021
The KoM for the decisive penultimate climb fell in this year’s edition of the Italian Monument
By Alex Ballinger Published