Throughout the USA Pro Cycling Challenge we are keeping tabs on Boulder native, Timmy Duggan. He is the reigning U.S. Nationals champion, and is returning to altitude after competing in the London Olympic Games. The 29-year-old falls into the all-arounder cyclist category (see our blog on the different types of riders) as he works to give his team leaders the best chance to take stage wins.  

With the help of Lafayette-based analysis company, TrainingPeaks, we're giving you a daily dose of the stats on Duggan's performance. The analysis monitors everything from power to heart rate, speed, elevation, distance, and pace. 

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NAME: Timmy Duggan, Liquigas-Cannondale

RANK: 42nd, after Stage One

STAGE 1 SUMMARY: The 127.5-mile opening stage of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge was no spin-around prologue. The ride from Durango to Telluride included a climb over Lizard Head Pass, bad weather, and a number of surprising finishes. Timmy Duggan ended Stage 1 in 42nd place (in the pack with the stage's winner, Tyler Farrar). 

Click on the image below for TrainingPeaks' in-depth analysis of Duggan's haul over Lizard Head Pass, during which he managed to keep up an average speed of more than 25 miles per hour. 

(Click on the image for a larger view)

DUGGAN'S STAGE 1 HIGHLIGHTS:

Faster than the law: Duggan topped out at 60 miles per hour descending the pass, which is 20 miles per hour above the speed limit for "open mountain highways." He rode 40 miles per hour over the speed limit for "winding, narrow mountain highways."

Double time: The last third of the stage included the 3,086-foot climb to the top of Lizard Head Pass. Duggan cruised the section at an average speed of 25 miles per hour and finished the 48-mile stretch in under two hours. (An "average Joe" on a bike could only go half as fast on flat terrian.)

Power numbers over Lizard Head Pass: 

Power*: 211 watts (average); 724 watts (maximum) 

Speed: 41 kilometers per hour (average); 61.2 kph (maximum) 

 Heart Rate: Average, 153 beats per minute (average); 181 bpm (maximum) 

Cadence: Average, 88 rotations per minute (average); 122 rpm (maximum) 

Pace: Average, 1:28 minutes per kilometer (average); 0:58 mpk (maximum)

*What the heck is "power?": Power is measured by calculating watts (how hard are you pressing against the pedal multiplied by the number of pedal revolutions). Power is a better gauge for a cyclist than speed because even riding the same course each day at a 15 mile-per-hour pace could mean that there was a headwind one day and a tailwind the next. It doesn't explain how hard you are working. "A watt is the very same whether you are going uphill, downhill, headwind, tailwind," Dirk Friel of TrainingPeaks says. "A watt is a watt no matter what the conditions are."

—Stock image of Duggan courtesy of Casey B. Gibson

Check back at 5280 for USA Pro Cycling Challenge coverage all week, and follow editorial assistant Lindsey R. McKissick on Twitter at @LindseyRMcK.