U23 Biathlon Training Camp

Official supplier to the French Cycling Federation since 2014, Maurienne hosted the French U23 road team from January 6 to 11 at the La Bessannaise holiday center in Bessans (73). Between general physical preparation, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and biathlon, the young racers, whose group is almost entirely renewed this year, were able to get to know each other outside their usual terrain. The objective was team cohesion in -18 degree weather. Interview with Pierre-Yves Chatelon, national coach for the U23 team (19-22 years old) since 2013.

Interview by Pierre-Maxime BRANCHE. Photos: InYellow LB

3bikes.fr: Is bringing racers together in the mountains in January the right solution for winning on the road in July?
Pierre-Yves Chatelon: Yes, and it’s even essential in a season’s program, especially with a group that’s almost 90% renewed like the U23 team this year, since most of last year’s headliners have now turned pro. It’s an important moment for what will happen in the heart of their season, and that was the case in 2016 with David Gaudu’s victory (now a professional with Groupama-FDJ, editor’s note) in the Tour de l’Avenir in August. I think that, collectively, this victory was already built during the winter training camp in January, where the guys evolved together without the context of competition, without pressure, and where they stuck together to fight against the elements. It’s a foundational and sharing moment.

3B: During the season, training camps have a different focus?
P.Y.C: The group approach is always present, but we are more focused on preparing for an objective such as a European Championship, a World Championship, or the Tour de l’Avenir. We meet three or four weeks before the race to carry out technical reconnaissance on the proposed circuits, such as the mountain stage of the Tour de l’Avenir.

“We were looking for a large volume of endurance training, and this goal was met
with twice-daily training during the first four days.”

3B: What was your objective during these six days of gathering at the La Bessannaise holiday center in Haute Maurienne Vanoise?
P.Y.C: The staff pursued two types of objectives. Firstly, general physical preparation with a week without cycling to change from the saturation and fatigue that can set in during the winter after the resumption, even if it’s the start of the season. We were still looking for a large volume of endurance training, and this goal was met with twice-daily training during the first four days. The riders worked very well physically and in good conditions, even though it was very cold, down to -18 degrees on the last day. This also allows them to harden and toughen up against the difficult climatic conditions they may encounter in competition during the season. Secondly, we wanted to create and strengthen group cohesion. Again, the squad was almost completely renewed. This objective was also achieved because the group got along very well, helped by the absence of television in the rooms and by a difficult internet connection, which favored these moments of sharing.

3B: Were cross-country skiing and biathlon intended to strengthen this cohesion?
P.Y.C: Yes, because the young people benefited from educational sessions around these disciplines during the first two days, which smoothed out the necessarily heterogeneous levels, especially in cross-country skiing. This then allowed them to evolve as a group. It was quite funny to see racers skiing in a peloton.

3B: Do you find each person’s cycling personality reflected in their skiing?
P.Y.C: The strong aspects of different personalities quickly resurface, even through activities they are not used to practicing. The tenacious and combative guys on a bike, you find them on skis. Those who are very competitive and have the drive to win, you notice it, for example, in shooting: when a shot is missed, there is immediately the desire to do better on the next shot.

3B: A week without touching a bike when the season starts in February, isn’t that problematic?
P.Y.C: Even if modern training means that today riders start their comeback very early, from mid-November for pros, and that it requires a big December in terms of training volume, it’s not a problem at all. For younger riders, amateurs or U23, it’s not prohibitive to go four or five days without pedaling, if you maintain good endurance activity. What’s important in January is the training volume.

3B: What is the race program for the start of the season?
P.Y.C: We will meet again for another training camp in Calpe, Spain, in early February before heading to the Tour du Rwanda at the end of February. Previously, we participated in the Tour La Provence or the Boucles Drôme-Ardèche, but the level was too high and the distances a bit long for our riders. This year, we are fortunate to be invited to this event in Rwanda, which is now a 4.1 race and will therefore host professional teams such as Direct Énergie, Delco Marseille Provence, and Astana. It will be a great early-season event to prepare for the first U23 Nations Cup classics that will come a little later in March and April, such as Gent-Wevelgem or the Tour of Flanders.