This is some amazing race footage. If nothing else, watch how much they pull up on the pedal stroke. You can see it in the body and hip movements. I would venture to guess they are gaining 50w or more by pulling this hard.
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This is maybe a silly question but is pulling up -watts measured with PM devices? I have this idea that tpower pedals for instance, measure the load pushed down into the pedal but I am probably way off here 
That is actually a very good question. I know on the crank and hub based power meters it measures it. Same with flywheel trainers. Not sure about the pedals. I will search around and see what I find.
You might want to try yourself. Do two test: one with pulling and one without and see what the power meter says. You should see a noticeable difference in power when you pull.
Looks like the power pedals will measure upstroke too. In fact Garmin has a term for it - Power Phase. The Garmins can tell you what percent of the power is coming from what phase of the pedal stroke.
@Coach_Theia Let’s find that podcast on Fast Talk (I think) where they discuss pedal efficiency. I think you shared it with me. It was a very technical discussion on this topic. It might be worth summarizing the findings.
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