Some numbers…
This was a fast race right from the start as you can see from my Intensity Factor (IF) of 0.89. (If you are not familiar with IF, a score of 1 would equal riding at max for 1 hour). Similarly, a TSS score of 113 for a 1hour20 ride shows that this was pretty much an all out effort! I completed the entire course at an average of 245 watts (normalized 232watts), with the majority of my race spent riding between 190 and 310 watts. But given the elevation profile of the course does this mean anything?
The first 13km would be the most physically challenging presenting an opportunity to open up gaps in the race. The first climb I rode at an average of around 270 watts and the second an average of 260 watts. To give you some more stats, this puts me at around 4.2 watts/kg for the first half of the course.
The back end of the course (bar the river path) I averaged 182 watts (normalized 217). Interestingly I also spent a whole 19minutes and 11seconds at zero watts. Yep a big fat zero for almost a quarter of the race. This would be made up of time descending and cornering. The only thing that makes me feel a little bit better about this is that my power meter would still be recording during the marathon run from bike dismount into transition!