Not sure if rider hear rate data is a new addition to the tour de france (can't recall back to last year). However, as we all know, we are not created equal when it comes to individual heart rates and HR zones. With this in mind, I have found it to be quite frustrating when the tour coverage shows HR's of a rider. I can appreciate that 180bpm means they are working harder than if that same person was at 160bpm. What I have more difficulty with is when they compare across riders -160bpm is not the same level of effort for all the riders (or is it for the tour competitors?). Without any knowledge of their max HR, it's hard to determine who is working harder based on HR.
Furthermore, it's hard as an athlete to compare the level of work a rider is doing with myself as my max HR is somewhere around 163 on the bike. My question is, "would it make more sense to show the % of Max HR rather than actual HR? I could relate a bit better to this.
Anyone else have any thoughts?
I agree that it would be more useful to show each riders' max heartrate. However, differences in overall fitness levels will also affect this output. Thus, if two riders with max heart rates of 200 who are doing an identical amount of work have heart rates of 168 and 186, it can somewhat safely assumed that the rider with a heart rate of 186 is less fit than the rider with a heart rate of 168. Now this won't always be true because of several factors, but more often than not, this is the case.
In reference to your max heart rate on the bike being 163, I don't think this is correct. Your max heart rate is the same across all disciplines. However, the amount of work required to reach that heart rate in each discipline will vary. For instance, I have seen a max heart rate of 205 bpm while in a sprint on the bicycle. And I've seen 203 bpm in a running sprint to close out a race. It took a lot more work for me to get my heart rate that high on the run than it did on the bike. However, this shows that the max heart rate is the same across disciplines. Thus, if you have noticed a higher max heart rate in a different discipline, then you should be able to achieve that same max heart rate on the bicycle. If you are having trouble with this, try going to your nearest mountain and climb it as fast as you can. Remember to spin your legs quickly and push as big a gear as you can while still spinning quickly (at least 85-90 rpm). If this doesn't get your heart rate up, I don't know what will.