Tour of California: Daily Power Files from Team Saxo Bank's Gustav Larsson

Want to know exactly what it takes to race in the pro cycling tours? Find out during next week's Tour of California, when TrainingPeaks will be posting daily power files from Team Saxo Bank's Gustav Larsson right here on the blog.

You heard right. Team Saxo Bank and Mr. Larsson, along with the cooperation of the team’s official software system TrainingPeaks, have approved the sharing of Gustav’s SRM power meter files.

Team Saxo Bank’s Gustav Larsson may not yet be a widely recognized name within American cycling circles, but that doesn’t keep him from being a legitimate threat for the overall victory in the Tour of California to be awarded on February 22nd in Escondido, CA. Not only did this Swedish professional cyclist finish 5^th overall in the 2008 Tour of California, but he also claimed the silver medal in the Beijing Olympic individual time trial, only 33 seconds behind his Team Saxo Bank teammate Fabian Cancellara.

If you just can’t wait to view some Pro-Tour level power data, feel free to review last year’s Tour de France power files. You can download the files to a free trial of TrainingPeaks WKO+ software to view detailed commentary of each stage.

No doubt the data paints a clear picture of the demands of professional cycling at the highest level. This year’s Tour of California has a newly expanded route with a major climbing day coming on the final day. Unlike past editions, this year’s eventual winner should prove to be not only the fastest time trialist on the start line, but also one of the best climbers. Check out a preview of this year's Tour of California, where you will be able to download files to WKO+ and view a graph of each stage in our File Viewer as the race progresses.

You can also listen to an interview between Dirk Friel, co-founder of TrainingPeaks, and Bobby Julich, Team Saxo Bank's new Rider Development Manager, about how the team hopes to improve their performance this season with TrainingPeaks technology.

Stay tuned to see just how many watts it takes to finish the Tour of California, and possibly secure the overall victory.