It's almost the end of August and somehow the big season finale has already begun. At this point in the year, one wonders how preparation changes. Do riders still train a certain way? And what do their coaches look for?
A time not too far away, just go back 10 years, maybe less, it was said that at a certain point in the year it was enough to do some maintenance, that the condition would not have continued to grow. And that even insisting would have been counterproductive. We discuss all this with Claudio Cucinotta, one of the trainers in force at theAstana-Qazaqstan .
Claudio, so what does a rider do at the end of August?
It depends on many things. The periodization done during the year, the scheduled events, the athlete in question... There are also those who are in top form right now because they perform well in the heat. Other athletes don't go as fast in certain temperatures, but they perform better in spring.
At this point in the year, on average, are the values the same or do they drop a little?
Compared to the beginning of the season what is a little lower is the weight and therefore some values are not exactly the same. Perhaps in March we'll see more explosive efforts, absolute peaks that we don't see anymore. While the climbs remain more or less unchanged.
As a trainer, what are you interested in having him do during this period?
Once again I have to say it depends. Maybe. It is more difficult for the pure climber to do maximal work, while the sprinter must maintain high strength levels over 5", 15", 30" and therefore will perform anaerobic and anaerobic lactic acid efforts. Much in this case depends on the calendar and the characteristics of the athletes.
Okay, let's take an extreme example: Pogačar and Van der Poel aiming for the world championship. Same goal, different physical characteristics. What do they do?
pogacar he can win a grand Giro and the classics, so he is stronger aerobically. Van der Poel He's stronger in the classics, more explosive. He's more ready for sprints and short climbs. I imagine they will prepare differently. Pogacar, who by his own admission has worked a lot on the climbs and resistance, where he paid something compared to Vingegaard, will insist on short efforts, sprints... precisely to respond to the attacks of people like VdP or Van Aert, who could also find themselves in the final sprint and are not easy to beat.
Clear…
On the contrary, Van der Poel, who is already very strong in anaerobic effort, will work on his endurance given the toughness of the World Championship, which in my opinion is slightly in favor of Pogacar. I imagine a lot of Z3-Z4, to reproduce the performance model required by the world championship.
Once upon a time, as we said at the beginning, from July onwards the volumes dropped considerably…
The largest volumes remain those at the beginning of the season. By this time of year, an average athlete has completed at least one Grand Tour or is competing in the Vuelta, and in terms of volume, between races completed and the busy schedule, they shouldn't have any major problems. So you make “less volume”, but the intensity remains. And with such a packed schedule, you can use the races to increase intensity and do less at home. And by doing so, you wouldn't even lack volume. Think about it: there's the Vuelta, the Tour of Germany just finished, the Renewi Tour, then the Bemer Classic... even those who aren't competing in the Vuelta can squeeze in 15-20 days of racing while managing their recovery well.
In short, we're still working hard...
Then by choice I can also run less and work on the intensity at home. Bearing in mind that if the athlete has to go to the world championship, he cannot neglect the volume part: The World Championships will still last 6 to 6.5 hours. It's clear, however, that they won't be the 5-6 hour triples of the early season, but rather a few doubles lasting 4 to 3.5 hours. Maybe just one will go 6 hours.
Claudio, what values do you observe as a trainer?
More or less the same ones I monitor all year round. The parameters are the same: average power, normalized power in competition and training, Perhaps a little more weight should be given to heart rate variability, which is a good indicator of recovery status. and the athlete's freshness, but this too is evaluated year-round. Do you know what the real difference is?
Go, shoot…
It's just that today we tend to plan and periodize better. The intense phase is really intense and the detachment phase is more marked. There used to be a rider who never completely stopped during the year. He was always reasonably ready, but he was rarely at 101 percent. Today, however, at least once or twice a year, the rider does not touch the bike for 5-7 days. And this helps you get through the peak periods better, which are usually two a year, sometimes even three. But this also allows you to always be able to work, when you need to. Which is the concept the average amateur struggles to grasp. They average 32, when Pogačar maybe does 28.
