Phil Deignan's Vuelta a Espana Data

Take a look at the numbers behind a top-class climbing domestique with the help of TrainingPeaks.

What it takes to be a Grand Tour domestique

Philip Deignan played a crucial support role for Chris Froome during a tough final week of the Vuelta a Espana and the Irishman’s efforts helped his leader claim second place in the overall standings. Here, the experts at TrainingPeaks have poured over Phil’s data files to give you an interesting overview of the speed, power and effort required to be a top-class climbing domestique. Before we start - spend some time looking at how to analyse a data file. Stage 16: Monday, September 8 - San Martin del Rey Aurelio to La Farrapona (Lago de Somiedo) - 160.5km Click HERE to view Phil's full Stages power file from stage 16. Stage 16 featured five Cat. 1 climbs over the 160.5km of racing and Phil’s file shows a total elevation gain of an astonishing 4439 metres. During his ride of just over five hours, he also burned 4077 calories and his peak 20-minute power output was set on the penultimate climb of the day - the Puerto de San Lornezo. Stage 17: Wednesday, September 10 - Ortigueira to A Coruna - 190.7km Click HERE to view Phil's full Stages power file from stage 17. Phil had to ride hard early on this stage and set his peak 20-minute power output of 284 watts, or 4.37 w/kg, only 4.5 km into the stage. His peak one-hour power of 233 watts, 3.58 w/kg came much later in the stage at the 120km mark. Over the entire 188 km course, Phil’s pedal stroke averaged 89 rpm. Stage 18: Thursday, September 11 - A Estrada to Mont Castrove (Meis) - 157km ***Power data was off for the entire ride by about 100 watts due to an error in calibration.*** Click HERE to view Phil's full Stages power file from stage 18. Phils’s Peak 20-minute average heart rate was 165bpm and it occurred on the first major climb of the day. He averaged 16.6 km/h on the final ascent – climbing the 6.5km slope which held an average gradient of 7.1%. His average speed for the entire stage was 40.5 km/h. Stage 19: Friday, September 12 - Salvaterra do Mino to Cangas do Morrazo - 180.5km Click HERE to view Phil's full Stages power file from stage 19. Not surprisingly, Phil set his peak one-hour power during the longest climb of the day. He averaged 223 watts, or 3.43 w/kg, whilst pedalling at 84 rpm. Over the full 180.5km stage, that average rose slightly to 88 rpm. He also clocked his fastest speed only 20 minutes into the stage by hitting 94.3 km/h! Stage 20: Saturday, September 13 - Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil to Puerto de Ancares - 185.7m Click HERE to view Phil's full Stages power file from stage 20. The last mountains stage of the race featured 4279m of elevation gain. On the penultimate climb of the day, Phil set his peak 20-minute power output of 352 watts, or 5.42 w/kg. In the saddle for nearly five and a half hours, he also burned 4459 calories. Stage 21: Sunday, September 14 - Santiago de Compostela to Santiago de Compostela - 9.7km individual time trial Click HERE to view Phil's full Stages power file from stage 21. During the 9.3km time trial Phil averaged 282 watts, or 4.34 w/kg, for just under 15 minutes. His average cadence was 94 rpm and he covered the course at an average speed of 40.5km/h.