In bicycle racing,, endurance is king. In any stage, but particularly on the long mountain ‘climbs’, the riders who are out in front in the early goings are not necessarily the strongest. The true champions have the ability to “attack” late in the stage – utilizing energy reserves that the other racers don’t have to step it up to a blistering pace just as their opponents stamina is faltering.
In Outdoor Motocross, endurance is king. More accurately, Ricky Carmichael is king, and endurance might as well be his middle name. From a spectator’s perspective, it seems that the few riders who have been able to run with RC in the last few years (almost always early in the moto) must be amazed, frustrated, and demoralized at his ability to step up the pace even more, just when they are getting tired.
James Stewart is most likely one of those amazed people. When James was leading the second moto yesterday at Hangtown, he was certainly giving it his all. How can we explain, then, Ricky Carmichael’s ability to pass him (over a jump, no less!) and gap him 6-7 seconds in one lap? Remember that this was approximately halfway through the second moto.
As we have stated before, Carmichael has an incredibly demanding fitness regime, and he takes to training like a man posessed. While Stewart may be able to run Ricky’s pace early in an outdoor moto, 20 minutes later is a different story (AMA outdoor motos are approximately 35 minutes long). Not just Stewart, no rider seems to have the energy in reserve that would allow him to step up the pace when Carmichael does.
After what has happened in the first two races this season, we expect that Stewart will step up his training. In the short term, however, this is likely to make little difference to his race finishes. In the long term, the story is different. If Stewart can build up to the same level of fitness as RC, we might have two riders out front leaving the field behind late in the race – or someone to step into RC’s boots when he retires.
