Geeking out on Lap Times – 2012 Cyclocross World Championships – Men’s Race

The beauty of electronic timing, if it works reliably and is implemented well, is near instant results and lap times. The official UCI results for the 2012 UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Koksijde included lap times, and of course we can’t help ourselves but to take a deeper look into them.  We’ve moved the lap times into the sortable table below, and welcome your own analysis in the comments.

After a quick look, a few things jump out to us:

1. Like Marianne Vos, Albert’s secret was getting out in front, blazing his own path through the sand and leaving everyone else to deal with other riders and traffic. But he clearly had the engine to sustain it, putting in the fastest lap times in an amazing four of the first five laps (and finishing second on the second lap).  Albert’s fastest laps, at 6:29, were the second fastest of the day, bested only by Rob Peeters blazing last lap of 6:26.
2. Perhaps the most inconsistent rider was Aurelien Duval, who has a disastrous second lap 7:32 but was able to turn that around and clock the the sixth fastest time on lap 6, a 6:36.  Bad luck or a crash early on in the race?
3. Racers got faster on average as the race progressed, with the first lap jam causing slower lap times. Jonathan Page for example, was pretty consistent with three lap times of 7:02, 7:06, and 6:58, but those times had him fall back, as they were 12th fastest, then 27th fastest, then 22nd fastest. Surely the injuries and illness proved to factors in his result and eventual withdrawal.
4. Jeremy Powers clearly had an awful first lap with just the 45th best time, and but his last four laps were faster, placing him 24th, 29th, 25th, and 26th.  Surprisingly, the early laps didn’t seem to play a big factor in bringing down his result in that he was placed 26th overall in the end. Of course, a bad start certainly can affect motivation and you don’t have faster riders to follow, so you never know what could have been…
5. Ryan Trebon was the most consistent of the Americans, and his fast start kept him from traffic problems in the first lap. His lap times varied by only 22 seconds, revealing both good pacing and relatively big mishap-free riding.

What do you notice?  Let us know your thoughts.  Sort and crunch the numbers as you’d see fit.  Enjoy.

2012 Cyclocross World Championships - Elite Men Lap Times