Athlete 2 is a younger rider who has grown in his ability and experience at an astounding rate over the last 3 years. Improving is not a matter of "if" but "how" and "how fast." Athlete 2's strengths are self-rated as, "feeling a race and knowing when the defining moments are coming." He can sprint in groups and he can create and drive breaks. His liability, as self-reported, and supported by his power files, rests in his ability to close out long races.
This is where his training has been focused the last 2-3 training cycles. With the help of SE, he's been taking on the high volume training targeted at forcing aerobic development with threshold work occurring after a considerable workload has been accomplished. Athlete 2 is also furthering the stimulus of this volume training by stacking multiple days consecutively in a manner that is challenging, yet allows him to recover given one or two days of easy rides. This training is meant to mimic the high work demands needed for the late selections in road races as well as the later stages of stage racing.
We don't have a lot of racing data from Athlete 2 in March of 2009 (hence the low short-term powers), but we do have a good deal of training and training race data to compare. The results are an across the board increase in aerobic power. It will be interesting to see where his abilities peak as there are no signs of his current upward trajectory slowing.
Mean Maximal Powers: March 2009 (dotted) vs. March 2010 (solid)
