The Training Champion

Every club has at least one: a “strongman” who can’t help but ride (too) fast in training, who takes perverse pleasure in “making you suffer” when you had planned a relaxed ride for a good reason. Don’t fall into the trap!

By Bruno Cavelier – Photo: All rights reserved

Article published in Cyclo Coach magazine n°81, September/October 2023

Often, he doesn’t race, and in fact, he never has. And if he does, he loses his nerve, or rather, he doesn’t have any, caught in his own trap. Because he always rides too hard – a ride averaging less than 30km/h hardly concerns him – and at a uniform speed so as not to ruin his average pace, which has a double perverse effect: lack of juice on a starting line where you need to arrive fresh, and inability to push himself when it’s time to hang on at high speed. Because, if you always train the same way, you can’t practice at very high intensity, precisely the intensity you need in a race… As a result, it reinforces his idea: racing isn’t for him. Unfortunately, you still encounter some who don’t wear a helmet, because they prefer a cycling cap. Often, he’s equipped from head to toe in fashionable gear; he might be a KOM hunter because training is his only competition. He’s strong, and he knows it.

In the land of the blind…

The one-eyed man is king. The training champion hates to lose. So, as a solution, he has found his favorite prey: he prefers to ride with those weaker than him. It’s the best way he’s found to be the first to the top of a climb, or simply to ride at the front with a small smile playing on his lips, while those weaker than him – or simply much older – who follow him begin to grimace in pain. Even the stronger and more experienced racers than him are annoyed, simply because they follow a structured training plan, and today, they hadn’t planned to make such an effort, which is counterproductive to their preparation management.

Being a racer is a state of mind: you race in a race, you train – and help each other – in training. Riding well in a group, in a club, in a team, is an art that some troublemakers don’t master.

So, how to avoid him?

As you’ve understood, if you play his game, the training champion is very likely to spoil the atmosphere of a group ride, to upset the excellent team spirit that prevails in your club where the stronger riders should adapt to the weaker ones – because the reverse is impossible – or to disrupt your personal preparation by insidiously changing the planned theme of your day’s training. First, you need to identify him, and that’s why we’ve given you some clues at the beginning of these lines. In addition, you can test him on the road: if you ride next to him, he must always be half a wheel ahead. Just move up to his level, and he’ll pick up the pace to regain “his” half-wheel. Then, never play his game! Warn your less experienced riding companions, and let him have fun by himself. And one day, to have fun yourself, if by chance you meet him when you’ve planned a “hard” ride, suggest he ride with you – he’ll be delighted – and make him suffer!

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