FEATUREMICHAEL WOODS
EF EDUCATION FIRST
I think everyone is doing altitude
training now, pre-Tour you’ve got to
get up there and just get the hard
miles in at elevation. Rigo [Rigoberto
Urán] went to Colombia, and Tejay
van Garderen and I were in Andorra
and most of the other guys did some
altitude blocks as well.
If anything, the 2,000m fi nishes will
benefi t Rigo but while it might make
it a touch harder, Grand Tours are just
hard regardless of where you are from.
I just found that it doesn’t matter what
altitude you are at in the third week, it
is really a game of will power, a game
of endurance and it tends to favour the
older guys like me.MATT WHITE
SPORTS DIRECTOR
MITCHELTON-SCOTT
Every single rider in the top 10 will
have been to altitude in the month of
June. Sierra Nevada, Andorra, Livigno,
Tenerife — everyone has their little
places that they go but you have to be
careful not to do too much.
Some guys don’t like spending loads
of time, some guys like shorter more
intense periods and some guys like to
park themselves there for a month.
Everyone is really diff erent. Esteban
Chaves was born and bred at 2,700m,
and the big thing for riders like him is
that when they come down they can’t
get the same power. So they have
sea-level camps.THE VIEW OF THE PROSAltitude and the Tour peloton
Cycling Weekly | July 25, 2019 | 31TOUR DE FRANCE CONTENDERS AND THE ELEVATION
OF THEIR BIRTHPLACESNairoQui
ntana,
C
ómbi
ta,^ Col
ombi
a^
2 ,
825 mEganB
ernal,^ Zip
aqui
ra,^ Col
ombi
a^2,^6
50mRigobert
o^ Uran,
Urrao,^Colo
mbi
a^1,^8
30mRomai
n^ Bardet,^Brio
ude,^France5
18mEmm
anuel^ Buchmann,
Ravensburg,
Germ
any^
450 mJakob^
Fuglsang,^ Geneva,^Switzer
la
nd375 mThibaut^ Pin
ot,^ Mélisey,^France3
33mAdamY
ates,^ Bury,^Engl
and^
99mStevenK
ruijsw
ijk,^ Neunen,
Net
herlands^16 mRichie
P
orte
,^ Launceston,^Aust
ralia13mGerain
t^ Thomas,^ Cardi
ff^ ,
Wales^12 m3,000m2,500m2,000m1,500m1,000m500m0mhigh levels of thermal stress because of
radiation, so it might not be some rider
outperforming the other because of
altitude but also down to the combined
eff ect of altitude and how they are able to
exercise in, and dissipate, the heat.”
Despite the advantages they may
have when the race hits the mountains,
Kerrison is keen to point out that there
are also aspects of a Grand Tour which
may require more work for high-altitude
natives than for British or European
riders. “In 2010 we sat back and did an
analysis of what it takes to win the Tour
and a lot of it doesn’t come naturally to
those born and raised at higher altitudes.
It ’s a diff erent set of challenges that we
have to match with each rider. Th ey need
to focus on time trialling as it doesn’t
come naturally. Th ere are other factors
where fl atter terrain is tougher for
smaller guys, with denser air than they
would be use to riding through.”
So you still can’t win the Tour de
France solely through climbing ability.
When you consider all the variables
thrown up by 176 riders competing over
21 stages and then factor in unpredictable
crosswinds, descents and time trials, it
is — as always — the complete rider that
will succeed at this year’s Tour. It ’s just
in 2019 being good at altitude is a bigger
component of that whole. Pho
tos^ Gett
y^Images
,^ Yuzur
u^ Sunada,^
Imago/
PAImages,^ Lightwor
ks
Media^
/^ Alamy^ Sto
ck
Phot
o,^Jeff^ Gilber
t^ /
A
lamy^ Sto
ck
Phot
o