Ask the Pros
We asked three of the riders in our teams to tell us what life is like as one of the cycling elite.
Geraint Thomas
What does a typical week of training in the off-season look like?
It varies depending on the rider’s race programme, but during October we generally don’t do very much as that’s our month off. In November we’ll start things back up again at home and get out for a few hours, five days a week.
In December and January, Team Sky and Great Britain both run winter training camps in Majorca, and the workload varies there as well. December is about getting the miles back in the legs, whereas January becomes more focused on climbing and threshold work to ensure we’re good to go again for our first races of the new season.
How do you stay comfortable on a bike for 6-7 hours a day?
I make sure I have a good saddle, good shorts and some good chamois cream! The massages help a lot in the evenings, and there are stretches you can do on the bike.
What’s the coldest and hottest weather you have ever cycled in?
The coldest day I can remember was in January last year when Ian Stannard and I rode to the Cat and Fiddle pub near Buxton, despite the road being closed due to snow! Every time one of us had had enough, the other one kept us going, and by the time we got off the descent we were absolutely frozen.
The hottest was probably this year on the first stage of the Tour Down Under, when some of the guys said the temperature went over 45 degrees. When we finished the race our jerseys were white with the salt we’d lost, and Alex Dowsett even got heatstroke.
Dan Lloyd
What has been your worst crash?
I seem to crash fairly often… I obviously don’t knock on wood enough! My worst crash was in Lombardy last year, when I broke my collar bone during a heavy fall on a descent. I also crashed twice in last year’s Tour of Qatar. In fact I think I left most of my skin over there!
What’s the biggest downside to being a pro cyclist?
Having to travel to so many exotic destinations… It’s certainly a hard life!
What’s the coldest and hottest weather you have ever cycled in?
In March one year I rode the amateur Castilla y Leon in Spain. There was a long climb and at the top it was snowing. I was so cold on the descent that I can’t even describe it, but if I tell you that four riders were taken to hospital with hypothermia you can begin to understand just how bad the conditions were.
The hottest must have been the Tour of Britain in 2011… only joking! The Tour of Indonesia I completed in 2006 was, to say the least, quite warm. I think my bottled water would have tasted better if I’d added a tea bag.
Simon Richardson
What’s the biggest downside of being a professional cyclist?
As a pro, you are virtually absent from the social calendar for most of the year. Weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and reunions all take place without you. If you have a weekend off and it does coincide with a social event, you spend the day avoiding alcohol, trying not to stand up, and plotting your early exit. Hardly the life and soul of the party! I’ve lost count of the number of family gatherings I’ve missed. In fact my own wedding day was just about the first thing I’d gone to in years.
How do you cope with rain?
It’s as much about state of mind as physical preparation. As cycling kit becomes ever more advanced it is getting easier to fend off the elements, but there are days when it’s just a question of knuckling down and manning up. I find that I can just switch off from reality; my legs just keep pedalling with no input from my brain. The cold seeps into your fingers and toes until changing gear becomes impossible, but I’ve never got to the point where my legs stop working. And of course it helps when other people are suffering more… I can dig much deeper knowing that!
What’s the longest race you have ridden?
The longest was a stage of the Tour of Ireland in 2007. Although 250km is not obscenely long in the world of pro cycling, it stands out in my memory as it was my first road outing after switching from mountain biking. Goodness knows how many calories I forced down that day but I got through it intact, and felt stronger for it.