How Much Faster Is The Best Climber In The World?

How much of a head start do you need in a race against the world’s best climber up an epic climb? At the Global Bike Festival, we tried to beat the #1 ranked climber on Strava, Andrew “The Twig” Feather, to the top of the 2571m high Grossglockner / Edelweissspitze. This brutal climb (14km at 10.8%) stands between us and glory. Can Feather chase us down?

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foreign [Music] that’s not good come on guys we got this 50 meters away bottom in the red magic riding up an epic Alpine climb being chased by one of the world’s best climbers how much of a head start would you need to survive 14 kilometers at 10.8 percent average gradient without getting caught we’re gonna find out gtn’s very own twig the rider with more koms than any other on the planet has been persuaded to leave his home in leafy England and travel to the global bike Festival in saalbach in Austria he is in heaven surrounded by epic climbs and with as much jam on toast on tap as he can manage today he’s been asked to go Full Throttle up the Fearsome gross glockner and he’s going to leave at 12 p.m Sharp all right Angie how long is it going to take you to ride the gross glockner I reckon about uh an hour I reckon yeah isn’t that four minutes quicker than the Kom it’s a bit to learn okay I feel I’m feeling a bit tired today so I’ve got to build that in here we go I’m only gonna do 400 watch Lads all right an hour I reckon around an hour yeah maybe it’s just underneath what power are you gonna sustain I don’t know maybe try and go for 350. okay it’s a long It’s a Long Way to the Top I’ve written it once before and it’s it’s really hard really cold at the top okay Richie and Toby from gcloud Deutsche guys I’m thinking I’m gonna need about 15 minutes right I’ve done some maths very very crude maths but I’m an idiot so I’m going to give myself 10 minutes what about you guys what’s your weight 73 I’m gonna try and do about 350. I’m nearly the same I can do nearly the same wattage so I would say let’s make a tea yeah team gcn I like this but do we have some more manpower Alex um yeah I think I do I think I do yeah presenters we can beat Andrew feathers um I’m slightly concerned that I am the heaviest person here yeah someone’s got me the heaviest man even later than Andrew are you yeah one killer right guys um to the climb to the climb let’s do it okay how much of a head start do you think you need to be Andrew feather I guess 20 minutes half an hour sorry I’m already late so he’s catching me halfway solid week week and a half if he doesn’t punch up 45 minutes 45 minutes good luck mate I don’t know one and a half to two hours 20 minutes 19 minutes I would say 30 to 35. it’s a tough time I need I think at least one hour one hour one hour so it’s five minutes 45 seconds world tour right 30 minutes 30 minutes Italian I think we might have found the rider that’s going to win today look at that cassette 11 to 23 with a 39. how fast are you gonna go sir probably eight kiss average so what’s that about 20 RPM please yeah probably 45. I love it a bit of old school can’t beat it okay team should we do this yes yes all right so glasses are on right we’ve got 10 minutes before Andrew starts he’s taking his water bottle off of course he’s gonna cheat right come on then good luck guys okay right here we go then straight out of the blocks and what’s this gradient like 10 I think it’s a buff like what Simon is in a good mood he’s looking good with his hairy legs and uh yeah and also Toby our climber for today he’s looking white and also good I’m a bit worried to be honest 10 10 minutes is quite a quite a long time so um no they should put in a decent margin there to start with so yeah we’ll see I’ll give it my best shot I’ve ridden it before it’s a really it’s a really hard climb um really cold at the top so um yeah we’ll we’ll give it the best shot sorry feather sets off in about 20 seconds from now it’s gonna be tough right I’m off we’re setting a good tempo Toby on the front like a metronome tapping it out you can hear that we’re going pretty hard what did you update 332 average bit below what we set out but it seems ample right now you know what you’re fairly getting cold hopefully I haven’t gone too hard too early it’s a just coming up to 10 minutes it’s just a it’s just a grind just like consistent 11 percent [Music] Toby is leaving us [Music] see you Alex the big horse is pushing in the front Psy is looking like he’s turning 30 next week but that’s a lie he’s actually turning 40. great job guys let’s go go I’m trying to get a bit of a rhythm but it’s hard steep climb there isn’t it [Music] doing that 390 probably not sustainable so well I’ve overcooked it [Music] look at that view unreal Andrew feather he’s in Hot Pursuit how confident you’re feeling Richie I think he’s five minutes off so maybe we can make it yes we can make it look at this hey thanks man like after nearly 1 000 meters of climbing we are beginning to feel at the eyes getting a bit thinner as you can hear it’s not that easy to talk anymore well it’s near yes as thin as size cars [Music] thank you feather is gaining on us but we still can’t quite see him on the hairpins below us we’re going up sick Richie is setting an amazing tempo for the altitude is biting we’ve all lost about 20 watts so we’re struggling at 3 20. yeah how far back is he oh Jesus not good that’s not good it’s getting close now we’re not far from the top just a few 100 meters vertical elevation to go this is like being in the early Breakaway the Tour de France you know you’re doomed you just don’t know when there’s no Turner in my head oh yeah he’s a private dancer a dancer for money he’ll do what you want him to do if you’re pissing you can right side that’s zone six Zone 16 uh may she rest in peace [Music] come on guys we got this we can do it that’s the top it’s definitely hey 15 meters away 50 meters away but I’m in the red here he is he’s coming Rich if you’ve got anything left mate Ben or just a little bit and you not much [Music] I’m in the red now trying to hold him off 380. but it’s too little too late how’s that ah oh what have gone fair play mate go Richie Alex and I’ve been dropped Richie is hanging in there the team gcn feathers caught him but he’s not gone past right so it’s all to play for playing cat Mouse I think so we’re gonna try our best to keep going let’s catch up that’s it the catch has been made he has caught us but it’s not all over yet Richie still has something left in the legs can he hold on The Climb rears up towards the peak and tarmac turns to cobbles [Music] it turns out that feather was the fifth fastest rider in history on Strava and the fastest outside of stage four of the tour of Austria 2016. hey you’re a machine that’s so hard this is horrible for a sec it’s just like at the top it’s just like your power just goes down like half to about 1800 you’re just like oh I did 340 watts 340 340 yeah but I’m like 74 kilograms so that fits it’s yeah I’m about 66 yeah [Music] that’s really hard oh when you’re there as I said when I caught you and you started accelerating because I just bridge the gap did a bit of an accident and I was like oh no you can slow down slow down all right here’s Alex yeah yeah boy oh man nice fair play that is incredible right then hats off once again to gcn’s Twig for demolishing is that a Kom I don’t know not sure I did it like 54 minutes so maybe maybe maybe just off again we might have a UK where team gcn Richie was there at the end it’s incredible ride Dave and Richie but we have found some gcn crew that have beaten Andrew guys you did it you’ve taken the victory thanks man I’m not really sure about this all right big thumbs up to everyone though today for a sterling effort at the global bike Festival let us know in the comments section what time you reckon you do up here that’s right how much of a head start would you need to be one of the world’s best climbers it’s more than 15 minutes go go back down yeah so that was quite close that is pretty good isn’t it yeah yeah