About — Omertà

Omertà — in the peloton, power numbers aren't shared. Tactics aren't explained. The public gets results and narratives, but rarely the underlying truth.

We're breaking that silence — with data.

What we do

Omertà is a cycling journalism platform built around one core idea: power data is the key to understanding professional cycling, and nobody in English-language media is systematically tracking and publishing it.

We estimate the climbing power output of professional cyclists using physics-based models, then we write about what those numbers mean. Not as raw data dumps, but as contextualised, opinionated journalism that helps you understand what actually happened in a race — and what's likely to happen next.

Think of it as the intersection of FiveThirtyEight's analytical rigour, Rouleur's editorial quality, and ProCyclingStats' data depth. But none of these things individually.

How it works

We gather timing data

From race broadcasts, official results, and timing splits, we extract precise climbing times for every notable ascent in professional cycling.

We estimate power

Using the Martin model — a physics-based approach that accounts for gradient, altitude, rider weight, aerodynamic drag, and rolling resistance — we calculate estimated watts per kilogram (ᵉW/kg) for each climbing performance.

We normalise and validate

Our étalon normalisation process accounts for climb-specific variables. We've validated our model against published power figures with a mean absolute error of ±1.8%. That's about 0.1 W/kg at elite level — tight enough to be meaningful.

We write about it

The numbers are only useful with context. We track rider form over time, compare performances historically, and produce race previews, stage analyses, and feature articles that weave data into narrative.

What we believe

Data without context is noise. A number like "6.3 W/kg" means nothing unless you know it's the fastest anyone has climbed that mountain in fifteen years. We always provide the context.
Cycling deserves better analysis. Every other major sport has embraced data-driven journalism. Cycling is behind — partly because the sport's power data is closely guarded. We're changing that, one climb at a time.
Uncertainty is honest. Our estimates are estimates. We publish confidence intervals, explain our methodology, and acknowledge when we're unsure.
Beautiful presentation matters. Data journalism doesn't have to look like a spreadsheet. The reading experience — the typography, the whitespace, the way a number sits in a sentence — matters as much as the number itself.

What we cover

Grand Tours Every mountain stage of the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a España. Daily power analysis during race weeks.

Stage Races Paris–Nice, Tirreno–Adriatico, Tour de Suisse, Critérium du Dauphiné, and other WorldTour events with significant climbing.

Form Tracking Rolling 30-day power estimates for the top 50 GC riders. Updated weekly during the season.

Previews Data-driven previews for every major race, with rider form assessments, historical comparisons, and power benchmarks.

Who we are

Omertà is an independent publication. We're not funded by teams, not beholden to advertisers, and not constrained by access journalism. Our obligation is to the data and to our readers — in that order.

We're building this because the cycling media landscape has a gap: there's no publication that systematically combines rigorous power analysis with quality editorial. Rouleur gives you beautiful writing but no data. ProCyclingStats gives you data but no narrative. We give you both.

The data is speaking. We're here to translate it.