10 Things You Didn't Know About Pro Cycling

10 Things You Didn't Know About Pro Cycling (by Training Peaks CEO)


Team Sky vs. Dana Weber 
How a privateer cross country racer stacks up versus riders on a Pro Tour road team (besides the fact that I spent 45 hours at work this week)

1. The riders eat meals at separate tables from the team staff. This allows the riders to decompress a bit in a "pressure-free" environment and give them some space from the ever watchful coaches and directors.
   DANA - Semi-pro status - I don't have team staff.  My meal times do allow me to decompress from other daily pressures in life.
   
   
2. Riding bikes is hard work and some things are just taken care of for you, like laundry. Riders put their clothes in a mesh bag and leave it in front of their hotel door, to be picked up in the evening after the team takes care of the washing and drying.
   DANA - pro status - I have to admit my awesome wife does most of my laundry
   
   
3. Bike mechanics wash and prep bikes every day, and spend much of the day during training camps building other bikes for use later in the season. Imagine keeping track of every rider's unique position, while they are constantly experimenting with new equipment and such. It takes a LOT of effort to keep everything sorted.
   DANA - amateur status - I wash my own bikes and certainly don't have time to do it everyday.
   
   
4. Each rider has 3-6 bikes. They use 1-2 for training, 1-2 for time-trials, and 1-2 for road racing. Did you catch that? They ride a different bike for racing than for training.
   DANA - amateur status - I have 1 have a great mountain bike to race / train on and 1 road bike to train on.
   
   
5. During a training ride, they will often stop at the top or bottom of a big climb to change clothes when it is cold or wet. They might put on a dry jersey, or put on an additional thermal jacket for a long descent.
   DANA - pro status - I wear layers on cold morning rides and remove my jacket for climbs WITHOUT stopping
   
   
6. A team "director" is the racing manager, a "coach" is the training manager. Responsibility for the riders' welfare and condition changes hands during the season between these two.
   DANA - amateur - i don't have a director or coach
   
   
7. Follow vehicles are used for every training ride, even on easy recovery days. One, for protection and supplies, and two, so riders literally know where to go. European roads can be confusing! Also, if a rider flats during a ride, the group doesn't stop, the wheel is replaced and the rider is motorpaced back up to the group.
   DANA - amateur status - I do not have a follow car
   
   
8. During a ride, the riders have a choice of drinking either water, or "mix" (Gatorade), typically designated on the bottle by an "x". Team Sky has special bottles with different color nipples: blue for water and orange for Gatorade.
   DANA - pro status - I carry two water bottles while training, one with water and one with Cytomax
   
   
9. During training rides, each rider will maintain their own effort when doing climbs, to maximize individual performance. This also takes into account the different racing schedules of the various riders.
   DANA - pro status - I always ride my own pace when training with others
   
   
10. Riders are commonly put in two groups, "classics" and "stage" riders - namely, those that excel at the super hard one-day classics races, and those that excel at either winning or supporting the team leader during the long 7-21 day stage racing season (Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana).
    DANA - I race mountain bikes!