Alex Paton vs Ollie Bridgewood: Who is the better cyclist?

Cycling is one of the toughest endurance sports in the world that constantly pushes riders to the limit. Pro riders have to endure hours of racing at a time, often for weeks on end, especially at the Grand Tours like the Tour de France.

It’s not too surprising then that pro cyclists are supreme athletes who possess natural abilities that most of us can only dream of. This ability has produced some of the highest physiological performance numbers ever recorded across all sports, like the highest VO2 Max.

While their ability is unquestionable, it can be hard to contextualise exactly how talented pro cyclists are compared to everyday riders, so we decided to find out by sending Ollie Bridgewood and Alex Paton across to the US for some testing at the hands of Humango and Human Powered Health. Both are admittedly at the upper scale of amateur ability but what kind of numbers would they post and, more importantly, who would post the best numbers to head back to the UK with their pride intact?

Read more: Can Si Richardson qualify for the UCI Gravel World Championships?

The test

To find out, Alex and Ollie made the journey across to the new Human Powered Health testing lab in Boston, USA.

Labs are usually the preserve of elite athletes but this facility is open to everyday riders, like our dynamic duo, to find out how fit and healthy they are. The findings can be used to tailor training and target improvements but can also provide a strong indication of general well-being and overall health too.

In Alex and Ollie’s case, the focus was solely on testing their cycling ability and that required multiple gruelling tests to measure:

• Resting metabolic rate - This measures how much energy the body consumes while resting.
• Lactate threshold - One of the most important markers of cycling performance, this is the point at which lactate starts building up in the body faster than it can be cleared.
• VO2 Max - This is the maximum amount of oxygen the lungs can process during exercise.
• Sweat and hydration rate - Gives an indication of a rider’s hydration requirements during exercise.
• Force plate analysis - This measures muscle reactivity, strength and imbalances.
• Functional movement screening - A screening tool to measure fundamental movement patterns.

Our duo also had to take part in a Wingate Test, widely regarded as one of the most brutal tests that can be used to evaluate many performance markers, including aerobic and anaerobic fitness.

Read more: 20-minute, one-hour or ramp test: Which FTP test is best?

Humango AI coaching and fitness app

It would mean lots of pain, but also lots of gain, because at the end of it Humango stepped in to analyse the data and provide feedback to help Alex and Ollie target future improvements.

Humango is a training app that uses AI to deliver personalised and adaptive training plans that are tailored to an individual’s needs. The platform centres around Hugo, a virtual AI coach which analyses data to constantly adapt workouts and training plans.

In Alex and Ollie’s case, the platform was used to interpret the results and action them into workout adjustments.

Of course, there was much more at stake as Alex and Ollie sought the pride of posting the most impressive numbers, but who came out on top? Watch the full video at the top of this page to find out.

Here at GCN, we’re constantly putting our presenters to the test through new challenges. Explore our full range of challenges here.

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