Before the Tour de France, the big favorites retire to the overall victory to the altitude training camp. More red blood cells are said to provide more oxygen in the muscles. But also the intensity for mountain sprints is filed.
Sierra Nevada and Teide were once. The favorites for the Tour de France all get the last finishing touches in the Alps. While Tadej Pogacar was posted by the Bergstraßen around the Isola 2000 skiing station – there he had successfully prepared for the tour last year – Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and also Primoz Roglic Tignes. The programs that you unlock there should be similar.
Training incentive: Oxygen
In the height training camp, the professionals are primarily concerned with using the oxygen poverty of the mountain air to stimulate their own body to produce more and more red blood cells. Because they mean more oxygen transportability of the blood. Three -week stays have proven to be particularly effective in scientific studies. “Three weeks are good. But if I were the boss from a cycling team, I would recommend six to eight weeks”says the Danish sports scientist Carsten Lundby of the Sportschau.
So far he has not been heard, even though he works with the racing team Visma – Lease a Bike of his compatriot Jonas Vingegaard, which was always open to scientific knowledge. On the one hand, the fact that the teams are no longer in height is related to the driver’s competition calendar. They should not only train, but also drive races and best win them. Money also plays a role. “A room in the Sierra Nevada costs around 250 euros. The hotels there are not necessarily good, but expensive”says Ralph Denk, team leader of Red Bull – Bora -Hansgrohe, about sports show. If his team comes with ten drivers there, this also means that there are at least ten other people there, Denk is calculated: coaches, sporting director, physiotherapist, mechanic, a cook. With 21 days, two annual salaries for young professionals quickly come together.
No distraction in height
Height training camps can also have important mental and social aspects. “Some drivers really love this. They have good memories of certain places. The height also makes you find yourself. Because there are no distractions there and all energy flows into cycling”Patxi Vila, sporting director at Red Bull – Bora Hansgrohe.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the top drivers and entourage like to return to the places with which they combine positive memories. At Pogacar this is next to the Sierra Nevada, where he trained in the height in spring – and also met Vingegaard there – Isola 2000. There he got the finishing touches for the tour last year. Country man Roglic, on the other hand, has been swearing by Tignes for many years. Vingegaard was there for the first time last year and apparently found it good enough to come back now.
A mix of intervals
In this phase of the season, they are primarily subject to highly intensive training blocks. In the case of Pogacar’s sprints of 15 seconds, this includes improving maximum power. Intervalls for increasing the oxygen transportation of the blood comprise two to four minutes, it said from his supervisor. And then there are the so-called tempo sessions that ultimately simulate the attacks in the race. 15 -minute load sections are known from Pogacar, driven three times with a break of eight minutes each. As a new element, heat training has been added in recent years.
Heat training as a supplement and alternative
“We have had good experiences with it”said Jeroen Swart, Pogacar coach, during a winter training camp in the sports show. The drivers actually build their scooters in the sauna. “The sauna is not fully turned.said Swart. This type of heat training not only helps get used to the body of hot temperatures during the competition, especially in July at the Tour de France. “Studies have also shown that the blood volume increases. This is particularly important in the altitude training camp. When it comes to staying in height, the concentration of the red blood cells increases, but the blood volume overall slightly decreases”explains Kristof de Kegel, Head of Performance at the Alpecin Deceuninck racing team, the Sportschau. He recommends blocks with heat training, especially at the end and as an extension of the height training.
Researcher Lundby even sees an interesting alternative to altitude training in heat training: “Ten years ago we already experimented with heat training. Our original assumption was that it can also increase the number of red blood cells. And we have actually observed that the number of red blood cells actually increases during a five -week heat training that can be done anywhere. “ For him, the advantages are obvious: “You are in your familiar surroundings, turn up the temperature to 30 degrees in the room or simply move over winter clothing and train five times a day a day, over five weeks.”
Remco Evenpoel on the Dauphine tour
This would also be cheaper for the race stables, costs for the hotel and arrival are eliminated. In particular, teams with a lower budget that cannot afford three weeks of altitude training camp could reduce the distance to the top teams in this way. It will be shown whether the scientifically certified Lundby set-up prevails at home with six to eight weeks and five weeks of heat training at home-and how this affects the performance of the professionals.