Pro/Elite training

Blumenfeld mention in a podcast that his all day running pace (below LT1) is 3:30 when he was talking that 3:15 pace is realistic in his sub 7 attempt.

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Couple of snippets in this video (about 4 mins in) from Jack Haig of Bahrain Victorious on his early season training focus. His main goal is the TdF I believe with the usual run in prep races…

Summary of takeaways:

  • Most teams have 2 training camps in winter: one in December that focuses on volume and getting to know new riders and staff. The second is in January and focuses on some better quality training and a little intensity

  • Nov, Dec and early Jan is z3 work and below with a focus on HR rather than power

  • Generally try to do pre season work based off HR on the basis the body is changing quickly after the off season and so wattage ranges can change quite quickly

  • One of biggest mistakes doing intervals early season is a focus on power as whilst initial interval HR might be aligned to zones, latter intervals may not

As an aside, z3 for Jack is circa 340-360w and HR 150-160bpm…

Also some snippets/ workout examples from Pavel Sivakov of Ineos (about 18 mins in) in Jan:

  • 5-6 hours general riding

  • z3 intervals (50m TiZ) split in 2x25, 3x15 etc as part of a longer ride

  • Low z3 intervals with some high intensity spikes (30 secs up to a 1 min) where the intensity would vary as well - refers to a CAP10 Zone (power for 10mins)

  • Few low gear, slow start sprints

  • Classes a lot of this under SAP (Sustainable Aerobic Power)

Perhaps nothing new here but interesting nonetheless.

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Great contribution to the thread :+1:

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Is that lifted from Jack Haig data? Unless I’m mistaken what is shown pretty much ticks the boxes across the board for both Jack and Pavel’s approaches.

yes, these are the first three days of JH’s second Jan camp. This time on Gran Canaria.

Yes, ticks all the boxes. And is really similar to all the other pros out there. Of course, nuances are different but overall quite similar. Ride a lot. Build engine slowly. Introduce more and more intensity from bottom up. Never really do extremely hard stuff.

This is all so consistent.

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Blu: “LT2 push”. Iden’s watts from today, it seems it is one of those double threshold days. Run first, then a ride. W/r to absolute watts, this is at altitude.

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Oh no !!!

grafik

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McN-Watch

Back to prep work after (almost) a week of racing on Mallorca.

grafik

  • Sat AeT ride at over 300W … uff
  • Today, 3x 60min at SST … ufff … I guess that’s how you prepare for a 60k solo break to the line.

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Relevant to this thread (I hope…)

… the SFT (Submaximal Fatigue Test) comes in. This, for those of you already tuned in to testing methods, is a shorter and simplified version of the LSCT (Lambert Submaximal Cycling Test)

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3 minutes effort and RPE. What’s not to like?

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Looking at this I have always in mind the racing season episode with ISM at FastTalk when Connor tried in all ways suggest that 3 days of intensity are not needed in preparation for racing season :slight_smile:

Thank you @sryke for your inputs - it is always very informative and give perspective why they are whey they are :slight_smile:

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"But yeah, I was super motivated during this summer. I had to make sure that after the Italian races, I had a proper off-season, just to reset because the amount of mental energy that I spent last year with two crashes and getting back twice was quite a lot. I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining. The least I can do is get back to the physical fitness to race again, but it takes a lot of energy when the year’s not going well, especially in a contract year.

So I did three and a half weeks of no riding. And then just had a really consistent run of training every week leading up to Nationals. Nothing crazy. There wasn’t like any big 30-hour weeks, it was just consistent load, resting well, being well, and relaxing well. I didn’t necessarily do any crazy sessions, like no zone work as such. I’d just go out north [of Melbourne] into the hills, ride pretty hard, try to get a good average speed, do a few crits, and do some heat training where I’d leave late and ride out north on some of the highways there."

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Hey, I found this interview with George Bennet very interesting: George Bennett: “The difference between Pogačar and Roglič is often th – Rouleur

Although it may seem all pro riders train the same it sheds some light on the different approaches between teams:

  • Jumbo: all riders doing similar training and adapted to WVA and Rog. He mentions 2 mins on 2 mins off stuff + very high volume ~30 hours/week in winter.
  • UAE: much more individualized based on rider testing. For him it resulted in less volume and higher overall intensity to develop fatigue resistance. He mentions 17 to 20 hours/week and max. 3.5 hour rides in winter. Also gym work in order to pack muscle in the legs although so far he has not been able.

To me it looks like Jumbo is more “polarized” inclined and UAE/ISM more LT2/SST, what do you think guys?

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No, absolutely no :slight_smile:

Plenty of JV rides post everything on Strava. 100% not polarised.

And UAE, no idea. Only few riders post on Strava with power data. However, McN trains a lot right at LT1 which is really demanding for pros. Therefore, overall volume is lower. In winter. But see now.

Cycling pros simply can’t be categorised into pol or whatever bucket.

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So you say pros do not get off their bikes and push them up to the mountain top? :wink:

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Pro cyclists probably stay at the bottom of the climb and have an extended espresso break :slight_smile:

On a more serious note, I once read that xc skiier would often walk up hills to reinforce certain motion patterns. But who cares about this little details, such a nice story. Isaac Newton had his apple tree, Seiler his hill-walking-what-the-heck elite athlete. Great discoveries need their little stories. When I taught at uni I told the same jokes/stories each term, too.

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True, I am victim of the same stories told to the students also. And that is also why I like to listen the same person on a different podcasts to see if they say something new or it’s still the same story all over.

Good to know! :slight_smile: Do you observe as Bennett claims this onse size fits all kind of training more tailored to the strengths of WVA and Roglic?

Thanks for the Bennett interview. The funny part was where he casually reports an extraordinary 90+ml/kg/min vo2max and just shrugs it off. Then emphasizes fatigue resistance. Full ISM style.

So the change from JV to UAE is broadly this: a bit less volume, a bit more overall intensity, both tinkered individually, and quite a bit of lifting on top. Sounds, dare I say it, fun.

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