After Nicola's great win in the European Long Course championships on a road bike, no disc wheel, no aero helmet and no speed suit; some have asked the usual questions.
Hence, I thought we would answer one of these publically to help beginners mainly, as I'm tired of trying to educate the 'more advanced' athletes who think they know it all. So if you're just getting started in the sport, below are 3 points that are the quickest way to enhance your biking leg!
Question
I've looked into not just the latest bike result but took the time to look at past athletes. It shows that every generation of your athletes are nearly all great on the bike. What are the training secrets to making this happen?
Answer
There are no secrets! There are 3 points:
We encourage our squad to avoid group rides, and to ride on their own. Even in training camp, there are no group rides except for easy recovery rides to help loosen tired legs after run training. Learn to ride into your own headwind.
We have over 30 years of experience using turbo trainers. As the technology 'improved' we still use old style non connected turbos. Even when sponsored, our champs all have the simple turbos. They do have the expensive turbo, however it sits in the corner while we hammer on the old school trainers. At the very least we do every 3rd ride on the turbo.
When we get on the bike we don't just sit on it. Unless it's a recovery ride, we push it, and we push it hard - on our own. We time trial on each ride we do. We try to build to race pace or faster every ride. We don't ride every day, but when we ride, we hammer it.
That's basically it. No secrets, just the above three points. Almost without exception, athletes following these rules are the ones you see ripping up the bike course.
Coincidence?
Personally, I don't think so.
Hope this helps some of you that want to bike faster.
Sutto
