{"id":1790395,"date":"2026-02-24T05:18:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T02:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1790395"},"modified":"2026-02-24T05:18:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T02:18:19","slug":"the-pro-peloton-has-gotten-even-faster-in-2026-just-wait-until-pogacar-starts-racing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1790395","title":{"rendered":"The Pro Peloton Has Gotten Even Faster in 2026 \u2014 Just Wait until Poga\u010dar Starts Racing"},"content":{"rendered":"
Anyone who holds a Strava KOM, be warned: the peloton is coming to break a bunch more climbing records in 2026.<\/p>\n
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Just this weekend, new fastest times were set on two signature climbs as the high-performance era of modern cycling continues to accelerate.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, \u201cthe new Pogi\u201d Isaac del Toro bettered his teammate Adam Yates\u2019 mark on the iconic Jebel Hafeet summit of the UAE Tour. The Mexican sensation went 41 seconds better than Yates\u2019 time from 2023 to set the new mark at 25:32.<\/p>\n
One day later, Del Toro\u2019s Gen-Z rivals Juan Ayuso, Oscar Onley, and Paul Seixas all blew Alberto Contador off the top of the leaderboard of the Algarve\u2019s Alto de Malh\u00e3o.<\/p>\n
The three fresh-faced wunderkinds lowered Contador\u2019s mark from 2016 from 6:48 to 6:39 in a GC showdown on the cruel 10 percent kicker that crowned the Volta ao Algarve.<\/p>\n
If there was ever a sign that cycling is going stratospheric, it\u2019s this.<\/p>\n
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Hyper-fueling, aero-finessing, and refinements in training science helped write new records through 2025, and their impacts are already trickling into 2026.<\/p>\n
Riders have arrived out of the so-called \u201coff-season\u201d red hot and with plenty more gains to come. Altitude camps through the spring and the intensity of racing will tilt power upward and body mass downward.<\/p>\n
And perhaps more to the point \u2013 \u201cMr. leaderboard annihilator\u201d Poga\u010dar hasn\u2019t even started his season yet.<\/p>\n
6.5w\/kg is only good for a top-10 \u2013 and it\u2019s still winter<\/h2>\nAyuso, Seixas, and Onley all went faster than Contador on the Malh\u00e3o.<\/span> (Photo: Dario Belingheri\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Of course, the times and speeds of climbing records mean little as a gauge of physiological performance.<\/p>\n
Wind directions, \u201cleadout riders,\u201d and the surges and slowdowns of racing all influence times from A to B.<\/p>\n
However, data is out there to back up the peloton\u2019s hot start.<\/p>\n
Of the four record-breakers mentioned above, Onley is the only one to share his data to Strava.<\/p>\n
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Per his upload from the stage, the 23-year-old blasted an average of 500 watts on the punishing Portuguese \u201cWall of Malh\u00e3o.\u201d For the 62kg climber, that\u2019s around 8w\/kg for close to seven minutes.<\/p>\n
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470w for over 9 minutes \ud83e\udd2f\u26a1<\/p>\n
Isaac del Toro unleashed massive power in the final 2.7km attack closing Antonio Tiberi to secure second on UAE Tour Stage 3. <\/p>\n
\u2014 Velon CC (@VelonCC) February 18, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
For a comparative effort, Velon estimated that Del Toro averaged 470 watts over the final 9:21 of the UAE Tour\u2019s savage Jebel Mobrah climb last Wednesday. At around 64kg, that\u2019s around 7.3 watts per kilo for \u201cTorito.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, data reported by notorious social media data fiend \u201cammattipy\u00f6r\u00e4ily\u201d suggests Norwegian climber Tobias Halland Johannessen averaged around 6.5w\/kg for both of the 25-minute summit finishes in the UAE Tour.<\/p>\n
Those performances were only good enough for a pair of top-10s \u2013 and it\u2019s still only February.<\/p>\n
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What does it all mean?<\/h2>\nPoga\u010dar debuts his season at Strade Bianche as he looks to back up his obliterating 2025 season.<\/span> (Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The record times set by Del Toro, Onley, Seixas, and Ayuso mean a lot and nothing all at once.<\/p>\n
Technological advancement, environmental factors, and race tactics can be as crucial as raw power in setting such records.<\/p>\n
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However, the nuggets of power data from last week\u2019s races are more interesting. The numbers spilling out of the UAE Tour and Volta ao Algarve don\u2019t break any boundaries, but they\u2019re a sure sign of things to come.<\/p>\n
For context, Poga\u010dar\u2019s winning ride last summer up the mythical Mont Ventoux at some 6.4 w\/kg for 54 minutes is regarded the ultimate benchmark. For shorter efforts, his 475-watt obliteration of the Tour\u2019s climbing time trial on the Peyragudes [7.5w\/kg for 17:19] makes Del Toro and Onley\u2019s numbers look novice.<\/p>\n
But context is key.<\/p>\n
Del Toro and Co\u2019s performances in the UAE and Algarve are reflective of riders fresh out of the off-season. Their performances will become even more impressive with every race and successive trip to altitude.<\/p>\n
Expect new climbing records and power PBs to be reported with every passing race.<\/p>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Copy-of-KLAEBO-3.jpeg”] Jim Cotton Updated February 24, 2026 11:10AM Anyone who holds a Strava KOM, be warned: the peloton is coming to break a bunch more climbing records in 2026. Just this weekend, new fastest times were set on two signature climbs as the high-performance era of modern cycling continues to accelerate. On Saturday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1790395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1790395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790395\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1790395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1790395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1790395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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