(Ball hitting net)
- How do you move fast enough to get over there?
(laughing)
By the time I've realized where the ball's going
my brain hasn't told me to move.
(thunderous zooming)
- I have just arrived at the training ground
for Premier League soccer club Watford FC
for something really exciting.
I'm about to meet Ben Foster,
the Watford goal keeper.
For those of you that don't know,
Ben is one of the most experienced footballers
in the Premier League.
Over his 18 years senior career
he has established himself
as one of the most dependable players in football.
In fact he currently holds the record
for the most goals saved in the Premier League
and not only that, he's even played for England
in a World Cup.
But I know what you're thinking,
why on earth are we talking about a footballer?
This is a cycling channel after all.
Well it turns out,
Ben Foster is a seriously keen cyclist
and actually a fan of the channel.
So we thought this was the perfect opportunity
to entertain our curiosity,
and with a little help from Zwift we are going to find out
just how fit is a professional footballer.
Before we jumped on our bikes though,
we had a sit down with Ben Foster to find out
a bit more about him and his cycling.
- I prefer to look at myself as a cyclist
and then a part-time footballer.
That's what I tell the kids anyway.
Yeah, they think Daddy's a cyclist more than anything.
- But your cyclings turned out
to be pretty competitive hasn't it?
I heard this morning
that you were quite into chasing the KOM's
and that sort of thing.
- Yeah, I've always been competitive to be fair,
no matter what it is, no matter what I'm playing,
if I'm playing.
I remember playing Mario Kart
on the Nintendo 64, my sister when I was a kid
and losing would be the end of the world.
So it's no different with cycling now,
whether it's doing Wattbike challenges in the gym,
whether it's trying to go KOM hunting on Strava,
out on my local, my local routes.
Yeah, I love it.
- I've seen on the board over in your gym
that you're 24 second power is insane,
it's something like 1220 watts.
That's a lot of power, Ben.
- Yeah that was, like I said,
the competition is so extreme now, that like,
people are doing leg weights,
just so they can get that score on the Wattbike.
It's ridiculous.
I love it, I absolutely love it.
It's good that you've got a few of the players
to sort of bounce off,
so you sort of all push each other to,
to try and get a better score.
- [Chris] Who's the current leader?
- Max Power.
Troy Daily to be fair.
Max Power, he's an animal.
He's over 2000 watts.
I think my PB's 1769,
but then the 30 second one line went in,
but Troy got I think 59 seconds
for a one kilometer.
- To put some of those numbers into context,
the world record for the kilo,
cycling for one kilometer from standing start,
is just 56 seconds.
So these guys are pretty handy.
I thought this was going to be a walk in the park,
but now, I'm starting to get nervous.
Right then, obviously there's a reason
we're here today
and it's not to talk about football.
We're going to test just how fit
a professional footballer is against a professional cyclist.
But there's no professional cyclist
available so we've got me.
Recently retired.
Getting my excuses in early.
To find out just how fit Ben is,
we're going to race head to head
on Zwift,
which is basically a virtual reality cycling playground.
You put your bike on a static trainer and pedal.
With all the power you put through your pedals,
translated into the virtual Zwift world.
It means we can race together safely
and it means we won't be getting wet today.
The first test will find out how aerobically fit we are
as we race over a flat 7 kilometer course
called the Fuego Flats.
The second is an out and out sprint,
to try put out our best peak maximum power.
It's a bit like a 5 kilometer run
and a 100 meter sprint.
How do you feel?
- The time trial will not be my forte.
The sprint probably won't be my forte either.
- That's what I like to hear!
- I'll give it a good go.
- Alright then, you ready?
- No, I'm nervous, I'm really nervous.
- Come on.
Three, two, one, go.
- I've gone out too fast on the, I'm burnin'.
(suspenseful music)
I think I'm actually in the lead at the minute.
- It's looking that way, isn't it?
At this point, as you can maybe tell,
Ben has me worried.
He's still on my wheel
and we are nervously
keeping an eye on each other.
Our competitive natures
are definitely coming through.
We are both giving it our all.
- [Chris] It's gettin' on your face.
- The talking's stopped now.
(intense string music)
- All right, we've got
just over 800 meters to go.
Heart rate,
197.
'About a minute left.
- I'm about to do my best.
Like to be closer than this.
(heavy breathing)
- King right!
201 heart rate.
(heavy breathing)
Oh wow, good work there.
(heavy breathing)
How much longer did that feel than seven kilometers?
- [Chris] How'd you find that? - [Ben] Really, really tough.
I think I was 330 average,
for ten minutes,
and that's -
- How does that compare to stuff you normally do?
- Oh, with that then,
I could probably hold for ten minutes up a hill
or a mountain maybe.
360 max.
- Yeah.
So it's well within the 10 percent?
- Yeah.
- That people talk about,
from inside to outside.
- I'm going to Majorca on Sunday,
so I'm trying to hold back a little bit.
- Yeah, yeah.
So I was I, actually. - Yeah, looked it, yeah.
- 201 heart rate.
That's the highest I've had this year.
- Is it? - Yeah.
I meant it when I said,
I was not going to leave anything.
- Yeah, that was incredible.
Look at that jersey
you've got to show for it though.
Wonderfully made!
- [Chris] It's the first one I've ever had.
The results you have all been waiting for.
Whilst Ben had me worried over
the first part of the TT,
I was able to use my experience
and pace the effort slightly better.
Pulling away
to a time of nine minutes, 30 seconds
at 388 watts.
Ben did put in an impressive effort,
but the early pace setting cost him in the end,
recording a respectable
10:25 at 343 watts.
Next up then, the sprints.
(serious synth music)
Find a gear that works.
Get my breathing right, my peddles right.
(Wattbikes whirring)
Right.
(heavy exhale)
Something like that.
- All right.
- You got your hands ready, Ben?
- Yeah, think so. - Just gettin' into today?
- Yeah, I'm out.
- Cool.
All right, there, you're all against drops.
Right.
Basically, when you're ready, but
three, two, one.
Go!
Yeah!
Lot of power.
- Not that hard! That's not,
that's definitely not right!
(laughing)
- [Chris] The sprints were a much closer battle,
and they really did have me worried.
Ben laid down 1,529 watt peak power
with a five-second average of 1,447
versus 1,549 peak for me
and 1,509 for five seconds.
This was too close for comfort.
But it does show
just how much explosive power
a professional footballer is capable of producing,
even after a 10-minute max effort.
Right, I'm not going to take up any more of your time.
Ben, a massive thank you
for having us into your Watford life
for the day.
It's been really insightful and I've really enjoyed it.
It's time to go home.
- Oh, no, no, could we,
I've got an idea.
Could we just go and try my sport for a little bit?
- What, football?
- Just a little bit.
- Yeah, I guess, I mean,
it's gettin' quite late,
but if you're sure...
- Two minutes, it'll be two minutes, honestly.
- Right, okay.
(distorted guitar music)
Feelin' pretty ready, got my gloves on,
your gloves, I'm told I'm meant to spit into these.
My shorts, my socks,
come on, Ben, let's get goin'.
- No, no, the big goal,
we've got to go in the proper goal.
- That, that one over there?
- [Ben] No, no, no, the proper one.
This one, the big goal.
- Oh.
- [Ben] Can you touch the bar?
- What, standing?
(playful string music)
- How was I supposed to reach it over there?
(censor beep), no.
How'd you move fast enough to get over there?
By the time I've realized where the ball's going,
my brain hasn't told me to move.
(censor beep), no!
- [Ben] Oh! - Yes!
- [Ben] We caught one, huh, okay!
(both laughing)
- [Chris] So let's see if I can get any.
- Come on, then. - Should I see if I can
get any towards the goal?
I'm, I'm about to make Ben look like a
Sunday League goalkeeper.
I don't think I've ever been filmed
taking a kick of a football before.
(both laughing)
So it turns out, a cyclist is better than a footballer
at cycling, but only just.
A footballer though, is much better at football
than a cyclist.
If you do want to know more about Zwift,
check out the link on your screen now.
Ben, that was amazing!
Thank you very much.
I do demand a rematch, though,
sometime soon.
- [Ben] Do it on football, again, if you want.
- Don't fancy my chances, I need more training.
- I think you'll be all right, you're okay.
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