We’re diving deep into the world of professional cycling camps as we hear first-hand from some of the leading coaches and nutritionists in pro cycling. Reporting from the picturesque coastal climbs of the Costa Blanca in Spain, our host, Dirk Friel, brings you insights from performance coaches like Lieselot Decroix and Mattia Michelusi, who reveal the critical training techniques employed to enhance rider performance.
Learn how pro teams leverage lactate testing, hear what metrics WorldTour coaches focus on around functional reserve capacity (FRC), and background on the growing importance of heat training. Nutritionist Nicki Strobel gives us a taste of what meal planning looks like during grueling tours and how data from TrainingPeaks is used to tailor nutrition strategies. Plus, Stephen Barrett explains the significance of durability in today’s WorldTour races, while Liam Holohan shares insights on hypoxic training.
Whether you’re a coach, athlete, or enthusiast, this episode is packed with proven takeaways to help elevate your training to the next level.
Standout Quotes
Stephen Barrett on Breaking Through Self-Imposed Limits: “I think to teach riders actually what they’re capable of doing [is important] because sometimes riders put a bit of a ceiling on themselves. And then [FRC] allows us to actually show them, actually, no. You can go beyond here, and this is the level that you actually can get to.”
“…the fact that, you know, all the data comes in so quick and we can pull it within 15 minutes and update their daily nutrition plans, it’s it’s a huge benefit for us.”
Nicki Strobel on Revolutionizing Daily Nutrition Plans
Nicki Strobel on Fueling Wisely for Optimal Training: “Most of the time, if you avoid [underfueling] and actually eat more while you’re training, you’ll find that you come back and you don’t feel like you wanna eat the fridge and then you just, manage your weight better.”
“One of the biggest predictors of performance now, is a rider’s ability to produce their peak five, peak 10-minute power after [burning] 4,000 [to] 6,000 kilojoules.”
Stephen Barrett on The Secret to Winning Races
Nicki Strobel on Fueling Wisely for Optimal Training: “Most of the time, if you avoid [underfueling] and actually eat more while you’re training, you’ll find that you come back and you don’t feel like you wanna eat the fridge and then you just, manage your weight better.”
“It’s really important that riders also stay attached to their subjective feelings, and we don’t just look at objective data, like HRV, but also just heart rate or, if they’re at altitude, you know, oxygenation.”
Lieselot Decroix Balancing Data with Human Experience
Liam Holohan on Dual Benefits of Heat Training: “So the heat training for some guys is more about pairing them for environmental conditions. So, like, to go Tour Down Under [or] UAE Tour, so they acclimate to where they’re gonna be racing. While, some guys are using it a little bit more for hemoglobin mass, which is increasing, the number of red blood cells to increase oxygen carrying capacity.“
“We have, two nutritionists in the team, and, they work really in collaboration with us as coaches. We coaches, plan the training, and we have the support from our nutritionists.”
Mattia Michelusi on The Importance of Nutrition in Cycling
Lieselot Decroix on Revamping Training with Technology: “And it’s really great that now we can also use TrainingPeaks to prescribe the strength training because also for us as coaches, we can quickly see what they do, which is much easier than the way that it was before.”
“So initially, we started at I think it was, like, 2,000 meters, and we just incrementally increased that so the guys are now sleeping and resting at 3,000 meters.
Liam Holohan on Hypoxic Training for Athletes
Mattia Michelusi on Maintaining Strength for Sprinters: “For me, it’s really important to do also some gym training, really close to the to the race. So, actually, we are not decreasing the gym session for the sprinters.“
