Yesterday’s post on points explained the importance of March and April for teams and riders alike. But if the start of the new season is a month away, most of the peloton faces damp and cold roads. Some find snow and ice block the way.
It’s a case of fight or flight. Riders can don the thermals and do battle with the winter and adopt alternative training plans. Or they can fly to somewhere warmer, lodging in out of season resorts where weak sunlight and quiet roads await.
Yesterday saw the Etoile de Bessèges race disrupted by cold weather. Snow, albeit light, and freezing temperatures were enough to worry riders and organisers alike and the second stage was shortened to 58km and once underway it was semi-neutralised by a bunch keen to get the task over and done with. Marcel Kittel won in … Read more
A professional cyclist’s work is seasonal and from now until early 2012, the rhythm of work changes given that the racing season is over. What happens in the off-season?