I was sent a link to an interesting article about ankle angle during the pedal stroke on the bike. It came from a free online cycling newsletter called roadbikerider.com In my experience a lot of triathletes try to pedal with some sort of perceived correct ankle angle that they have seen on a professional cyclist or triathlete, or that they have been told about by their triathlon coach. This article argues against this and gives the example of three well known Tour de France winners, who all have very different ankle angles. The author discusses finding the angle that suits you.
The only flaw I see in the argument is that he has described a very small sample of cyclists, who may well be exceptions to the rule. Also, they are not triathletes or Ironpersons, and there may be benefits to be had in certain ankle angle when transitioning to the run in an Ironman. I would be really interested in any research that looks at the ankle angle of a large group of professional cyclists and/or triathletes, before throwing away the idea that there might be a (more) right way to pedal. If any of you have seen any other good articles on this subject please email me them or leave a link in a comment. Cheers.
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