Power to Weight or Max Power

Adam asked if power to weight was as important to Time Trials as max power output. Big riders are usually the best TT'ers. So for those that are interested here is whay I had to say

"The 1996 Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis illustrated how much body weight can make a difference while going uphill. Riis beat the great Miguel Indurain in 1996. At the time of his win he weighed 150lbs (68kgs) and had a MS power of 480 watts while going all-out on a climb or time trial. This gave him an incredible power to weight ratio of 7 watts per kilogram (480 / 68 = 7). 7 watts /kg is widely regarded as the magic number in order to be one of the world’s best. Indurain had a MS power of 550 watts when going all-out, a much higher number than Riis. However, he weighed in at 176lbs (80kgs), 26lbs heavier than Riis! This gave him a power to weight ration of 6.8 watts/kg (550 / 80 = 6.8), 0.2 less than Riis. Indurain’s much higher MS power gave him the advantage in the time trials, where the main obstacle is wind drag. However, on the longest, steepest climbs of the Tour this was not the case as Riis’s 0.2 watts/kg advantage, made all the difference." (BTW - I stole that info. from here
https://www.peakscoachinggroup.com/freeinfo/going_uphill_fast.html)

So in a time trial, yeah overall max wattage output is the key. But you have to remember for me, weight does play a big role in my overall performance as a triathlete. I could gain a lot of muscle mass to be a great TT'er, but then I would be a lousy swimmer and an especially terrible runner. So for a triathlete the power to weight ratio is as important as it is for a true climber/overall road racer.