INTRODUCTION

THE AIM OF THIS BOOK is to help you take your road cycling to the next level. Whether you’re looking to improve your performance at your next sportive, beat your time trial best, topple a Strava King of the Mountain (KOM) or move up a racing category, the fundamental knowledge provided here will help you to achieve your goal. Road cycling is a wonderful sport that allows you to ride on the same roads as your heroes and heroines, and, with the advent of GPS and social media, even compare your performances. In this book, we look at the techniques used by top riders and teams, and then adapt and utilise this information, applying it in a realistic and attainable way to your riding.

The Road Performance Cycling Manual provides a comprehensive training guide from which you’ll be able to construct your own training plan and target it towards your key events. The book draws on the expertise of some of the best nutritionists, physiotherapists and coaches in cycling but distils their knowledge in a practical and applicable way. I’ll pass on the little gems of knowledge and tips that I’ve learned over the years, and you’ll find practical and easy-to-follow advice on everything from bike set-up, must-own kit and equipment to how to make those final days before a big event go smoothly.

Minimising maximal losses

Cycling had long been a sport whose training methods were largely based on little more than hearsay and tradition rather than solid sports science. Even at the highest levels of the sport, ex-riders retired, became coaches and, without questioning them, passed on the rituals and traditions to the next generation. Whether it was tucking into a steak before a race, grinding out seemingly endless slow miles during the winter or never considering any ‘off the bike’ training, that was how it had always been done. It genuinely took a revolution to break this cycle of misinformation, and the epicentre of that revolution was the National Cycling Centre in Manchester, England.

There’s no disputing the fact that, since 2008 and the Beijing Olympics, Britain has established itself as the world’s number one cycling nation, with the Great Britain Cycling Team taking medal hauls at the Beijing, London and Rio Olympics that made other nations green with envy and Team Sky racking up multiple Grand Tour wins. One of the most publicised reasons for this success has been their philosophy of the aggregation of marginal gains. This entails looking at every aspect of cycling, such as kit, nutrition, training methods, recovery and health, and optimising them all. The improvements from just one of these areas may be small but, by adding up lots of small gains, they become significant. The infamous Secret Squirrel Club at British Cycling, headed by Chris Boardman, left no stone unturned in their hunt for gains, even producing exact replicas of riders for wind tunnel testing and producing a skinsuit so effective that the UCI ended up banning it. In a sport deeply rooted in tradition, some of these ideas were initially met with scorn and even ridicule, especially when Team Sky took this philosophy into the ultra-conservative world of road racing. They lugged their own mattresses and pillows from hotel to hotel on Grand Tours to ensure that their riders got the best night’s sleep possible, and even experimented with their team leaders using a motorhome. After a hard mountaintop finish, rather than getting straight into the team bus, they’d cool down on turbos. And as other teams and nations saw the results that Sky and British Cycling were achieving, the laughter stopped and the imitating started.

There’s no doubt that for professional cyclists and Olympians, this accumulation of marginal gains approach is incredibly effective and important. The main reason for this is that all the basics of their training, nutrition and equipment are spot on and the way for them to find that extra 1 per cent, which can make the difference between winning and losing, is to dial in on the detail. However, for the vast majority of riders, these fundamental boxes simply aren’t being properly ticked. They get distracted and confused analysing the minutiae of their cycling, ignore the key basics and fail to reach their full potential.

This is why I like to think in terms of minimising maximal losses. It’s about avoiding the common mistakes, getting the fundamentals right and maximising your potential. There are four main areas to consider:

1Your bike set-up, equipment and clothing should aid you, not inhibit you from achieving your training or event goals. A slammed stem may look cool and pro but if it means you’re having to stop and stretch your back every ten minutes, you’re not going to set many personal bests. Similarly, if you’re too cold or too hot, your body will be wasting valuable energy that could be going into your pedals. Also, how many riders have you seen at a time trial with all the latest go-faster aero kit, only to pin their number on so it acts like a parachute and in one stroke negate all the gains their kit is giving them? Don’t worry, I’m not going to be a kit killjoy (I like a shiny bit of carbon as much as the next rider) but, by getting the basics right, you’ll get more value out of your pricey upgrades.

2Training has to be consistent, structured, progressive and driven by your goals, strengths and weaknesses. Many riders make the mistake of thinking that more is more and fail to prioritise recovery. This means you just become more fatigued rather than gaining fitness. It’s only by allowing your body to recover from training that it adapts and becomes stronger. You have to allow adequate recovery between tough training sessions, schedule regular recovery weeks into your training and ensure that you taper down to important events. Progression is essential to give your body new stimuli to adapt to. How many riders do you know that do exactly the same routine, week in, week out? Evolution has hardwired our bodies to be fundamentally lazy; unless you give them good reason to change, they won’t. Intensity has to be monitored, whether using a heart rate monitor, a power meter or a combination of both. Without doing this, you’re training blind. I’ve heard some riders make the argument that using these training tools is taking things too seriously and is only really for the pros. This couldn’t be further from the truth. With limited time to train, ensuring that you’re getting the most out of every pedal stroke is a no-brainer. Monitoring intensity allows you to achieve this. Constructing a training plan isn’t rocket science and certainly isn’t the dark art that some coaches make it out to be, and in this book you will be given all the tools and information you need to formulate your own training plan and tailor it to your personal goals.

3Nutrition is another key area, both on and off the bike. Unfortunately, more than any other area of sports performance, there’s a bewildering amount of misinformation and poor science associated with nutrition. Knowing how to correctly fuel and hydrate before, during and after your rides is crucial, but a huge number of riders get it massively wrong. Off the bike, fad diets promising weight loss and improved performance only add to the confusion. Certainly, for many riders, losing a few pounds definitely comes under the umbrella of minimising maximal losses, but it has to be done safely, sensibly and sustainably. Some supplements can legally boost your performance, but there’s little point using these expensive products, which will give limited gains at best, unless you’re getting your nutritional basics right.

4Pacing, whether you’re out for a training ride, taking part in a sportive or racing in a time trial, is the factor that can really make or break a ride. Learning to pace optimally begins with testing for your threshold heart rate or power, and you’ll come to see this number as your cycling ‘red line’, using it to set accurate heart rate or power zones and then practise, practise and practise. It’s then about having the discipline, even when you pin a number on, to stick to your tried and tested pacing strategy. Pacing is also intrinsically linked to fuelling. If you’re going too hard, your body won’t be able to digest the food you’re giving it. The food you try to take on will just sit in your stomach, making you feel bloated and nauseous.

Not a full-time cyclist

ALTHOUGH THERE’S NO DISPUTING the fact that professional cyclists are probably the hardest working and toughest sportspeople on the planet, as non-professional cyclists, in some ways, we have it tougher. You have to fit your training around work, family and other commitments. You probably don’t get to spend hours lounging on the sofa after a hard ride – after all, that lawn won’t mow itself. You definitely don’t have a team car following you on your training rides and I’m guessing that a massage is an occasional treat rather than a daily norm. This is why, although we can learn from what the pros do, it’s imperative not to try to copy them exactly.

One of the main reasons for this is the physical and mental stress that daily life puts on our bodies. Pro cyclists are masters of doing nothing when not riding. When not training they’ll be horizontal, avoiding being on their feet whenever possible and always taking lifts rather than using stairs. This lifestyle allows their bodies to cope with and adapt to the immense training and racing volume that they are subjected to. Their only training stress is the training that they’re doing. We have to factor in additional stresses other than our training. If it’s a really busy period at work, you’ve got a new-born baby or you’re undertaking a big home improvement project, it’s probably not the time to inflict a hard training block on yourself. A coach friend of mine told me a great example of this. He was coaching a rider who, according to his training diary, was completing every session, but the problem was that his performance was mysteriously dropping. It transpired that, due to being under heavy work pressure, he’d been getting up before dawn every morning to fit in his workout ahead of a 12-hour-plus working day. He was hammering himself into the ground, forgetting that scheduling in and completing adequate recovery is as important as nailing every workout.

Another case of not following the lead of the pros is winter training. Traditional winter base training involves going out and riding at a steady pace for hours on end. The rationale for this is to build a solid base of endurance fitness, develop efficiency and the body’s ability to burn fat as a fuel, and prepare for the higher-intensity training as the rider transitions into the racing season. This approach to winter training works well for the pros, as they’re able to devote the necessary 30–35 hours of riding a week to it. They get their training stimulus from this base work because of the volume of work they’re doing. If you’re only able to ride for six to ten hours a week, there’s very little point in doing them all slowly. I’m not saying that there’s no place for endurance-focused rides – far from it – and they’re key to cycling success, but you also have to include some higher-intensity work to maximise your winter gains.

I hope you take a lot from this book, find it interesting and informative and, more than anything, find that it improves your cycling performance.

Enjoy the ride.

Nikalas Cook