| |
Bradley Wiggins has revealed that a year-round gruelling training regime has been the spark behind his dominant run of form this season.
The Team Sky rider has won three out of the four races he has completed this year, taking victory at Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie and the Criterium du Dauphine.
Behind the scenes Wiggins has been working closely with Team Sky’s Head of Performance Support Tim Kerrison, who is relatively new to cycling having previously worked for Swimming Australia.
Although Wiggins says he still has room to improve before the Tour de France, Kerrison’s training regime ensures he has a consistently high base level of form throughout the year.
Holding form
“My coach has not been in cycling for long - he came from swimming - so I’m pretty much training like the swimmers train which is just constantly training through the year,” he said.
“It’s maybe not in the traditional cycling sense of starting January in a really bad condition and then building and building and showing form in (certain) races.
“It’s just trying to be 95, 97 per cent all year and constantly working. The only downside is that it’s mentally difficult, but up to now I’ve found it pretty good.
“I’ve only raced four races this year so I’ve had long periods between races to freshen up and do good blocks of training, so I’m not constantly racing.
“We’ve been racing to get a result and win and then having long periods of downtime and rest and recovery.”
Team effort
In addition to his work with Kerrison, Wiggins believes the approach of Team Sky as a whole has helped him to focus on performing to the full extent of his potential.
He added: “Anything I need is planned, it’s a lifestyle for everyone who works around me and it’s all for one cause.
“The way we do things, it’s fair to say we’re one of the most professional sporting teams in the world. That is one of the reasons why we have people who can compete across the board.
“The way we do the training camps through the winter months, the way every rider is looked after by someone within the team – their training is meticulously monitored.
