There’s no rest for the wicked, or the pro cyclist. That’s how the saying goes, or at least it should these days. Cycling has always been a sport of extremes, but the current generation of pros are pushing the limits of what is possible using the latest technology, science and data to drive their momentum, not just throughout the racing season, but year-round.
As cycling’s professionalism improves, a sport that already gave no quarter in terms of the demands it placed on the individual now offers no refuge at all, it seems, for those who value the elusive entity known as ‘work-life balance’. Is the sport becoming harder, or is it simply becoming harder to stay at the top?
An ever-growing to-do list that includes everything from wind tunnel training, altitude camps and heat training to structured nutrition plans and regular testing, the increasing professionalisation of sport in general, and pro cycling in particular, has seen improvements in every area of physical training and competition, with one possible exception: time off the bike.
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No such thing as a day off
In his book ‘The Racer’, former pro David Millar notes that winter training used to begin ‘sometime in January’ in ‘the old days (i.e. pre-1990)’. He goes on to describe the gradual shift forward of that date, with training beginning on 1st November by the end of the 1990s. Still, he goes on to outline his own process for getting back in shape, stating that his ‘no margin for error’ phase did not actually begin until January – nor did the mandatory pre-season team camp.
Nowadays, it seems as though pros have barely stepped off the bike and they’re already back on it again. Even before training camp season begins in earnest, individuals take to their machines to ensure they are in peak physical condition from the off – no slow builds, no gentle warm-ups. Sometimes, it seems, no break at all.
Traditionally, pro cycling’s off-season began in October and ran through to the New Year, and on the face of it, nothing much has changed. Top level racing consumes three-quarters of the calendar, with last year’s WorldTour curtain raiser, the Tour Down Under, beginning on 16th January, and the conclusion of the schedule in China at the Tour of Guangxi on 20th October. While it’s unlikely that many among the peloton will have this kind of end-to-end calendar, it’s irrelevant in the sense that the three months with no scheduled racing do not equate to three months off the bike. Perhaps a few decades ago, as per Millar’s lamentation, those months may have represented a true break. But since the late 1990s, cyclists have climbed back on the bike earlier and earlier. Like football, whose season ends in May and begins again in August, when you factor in all the hard work that goes in prior to the new season, condensing their rest and relaxation – the so-called ‘off-season’ – down to a period of around three weeks.
That’s not to say those weeks aren’t maximised. Riders manically turbo-charge their time away from the bike, dashing off all over the globe in search of sun, spamming Instagram with envy-inducing photo-dumps, and donning team colours once again before you can say ‘swimming with dolphins in Curaçao’. There are just as many wedding photos and subsequent anniversary celebrations, as major life milestones are shoe-horned in before the riders must head off on the road once again, throwing into stark reality just how little time these athletes get to spend with their loved ones. Not to mention the psychological toll of needing to be available at any time day or night, throughout the season, for the potential visit of the doping control team. A necessary evil, but the cost, if not physical, might be considered from a psychological perspective instead. Is there ever really a time when pros can truly ‘switch off’?
With off-season already a distant memory, the new season is on the horizon, with schedules already being unveiled for 2025. Solo training precedes training camps, media days and more in late November and early December, and by the time Christmas has been and gone, the first cohort of riders will be dispatched Down Under for the Aussie season openers, and the train begins rolling once again.
To race or not to race: that is the question
Since 2020, the trend for riders to hone their form with some early racing has increased, and when you throw into the mix the requisite team camps, media days and other extraneous commitments that accompany life as an elite cyclist, the notion of a ‘day off’ seems somewhat alien.
I was curious to discover whether the perceived lack of down time correlates in any way to the racing calendar itself. Looking back over the previous 15 years of competitive racing, there hasn’t been a major shift in the number of races on the calendar, as least as far as the men’s peloton is concerned. While the number of available race days trended gradually upwards from 2010 to 2019 – a year in which the number of race days peaked, at 617 – the years following the Covid-19 pandemic have seen a number of races change or disappear altogether, resulting in 499 in 2024, across World Tour, .Pro and .1 races. As for the number of riders, the combined total of all WorldTour and Pro Continental level riders has also trended downward somewhat in the past 15 years, from over 1,000 in 2011 to 975 in 2024. Not enough to make a major difference to the division of resources.
While the racing calendar has remained relatively static, this is not directly reflected in terms of the number of days riders are racing their bikes. This is actually reducing. Indeed, 2014 was the final year in which a rider logged over 100 race days in one season (Giant-Shimano’s Dutch Classics specialist Tom Veelers). The total number of riders clocking over 90 completed race days in a season dropped to zero in 2019 (though one brave soul recorded over 90 in 2023), with the average number of race days for men dropping considerably in that period. Now, the busiest riders complete 70 or 80 race days in a season, with 50 being the rough average for the rider halfway down the list.
Not only are the pros able to perform at a higher level when they are on the bike, due to the technical, nutritional and mechanical advances that have taken place over the past couple of decades, they are able to recover faster too, and an awareness of optimal numbers of race days is key to that. There are myriad factors playing into these numbers – which don’t take into account injuries and recovery times, crashes and illness – however the general trend is towards fewer days of actual racing – but does this equate to less work? It seems the opposite is true.
Celebrate good times – or not?
A further consideration is that of relaxation, bonding and celebration, during the season itself. Is it even possible for the pros to enjoy the fruits of their labour when they have earned it? Younger riders have more knowledge, more access to top level resources, and are seemingly more willing to submit themselves to the rigours required of them – weighing their food and allowing access to a raft of data on their training, recovery and nutrition that can be accessed digitally by coaches and team staff 24/7, 365 days a year. It’s a life the older pros struggle to rationalise. Speaking at the recent Rayner Foundation dinner, recently retired Alex Dowsett expressed his disappointment that riders must submit themselves to such a lifestyle.
Two more riders stepping away from the pro peloton after lengthy careers, Lilian Calmejane and Simon Geschke, both spoke out in recent interviews about the shift in perspective, generationally speaking. Speaking to Eurosport France, Calmejane reflected on a past culture of celebrating victories with a group of friends rather than simply teammates, contrasting this with his recent experiences when even on the final day of racing at the Tour of Guangxi young teammates were weighing their carbohydrates at dinner.
Geschke also lamented the changing culture in an interview with Rouleur, observing that 'the sport got less fun. It’s no secret the sport has gotten faster and faster – material, bikes, training and rider mentalities have changed with more altitude camps – but there are also less parties, less alcohol, less fun.' Geschke acknowledged the external pressure placed on teams from sponsors and as a result of the UCI’s relegation system. He compared December training camps from the early part of his career to today’s equivalent, 'We would have some drinks every night. We were bonding. Now in December we train super hard and maybe have a beer on one evening only. Everyone’s realised that if you want to stay on the high level, you can’t go out anymore. And, anyway, there’s no one who will go out with you, so you’re forced to stay in the room.'
The comments seem to chime with the brief furore that arose when Visma-Lease A Bike general manager Richard Plugge spoke negatively about a French team drinking beer on a rest day during the Tour de France in 2023. It transpired the team was Groupama-FDJ, and team boss Marc Madiot reacted angrily to the claims that having a drink somehow meant the team were less professional. The intrinsic shift away from celebration and bonding with alcohol appears to be part and parcel of the mindset of the younger generation.
While a cross-section of senior pros bemoan the negative impact of the changes, Israel-PremierTech’s George Bennett sees the changes as a positive, ‘When I was 15, I would stay up all night on Saturday and do 100km with my friends on Sunday. I didn't actually have a road bike,' he told us earlier in the year. 'Now at 15, kids are already weighing their food and going to altitude. By the time they turn pro, they already know more about the sport than I knew when I was 25.' He doesn’t agree that this may lead to burnout, 'For me, they'll have more successful careers. They’ll be better for longer.'
The price to pay
For us mere mortals, the rarefied air of the elite is another world. Many cyclists would give their right arm to be a part of the pro peloton and have access to the equipment, facilities and services the pros enjoy, and any discussion of the requisite ‘hardship’ that the life entails may not draw any sympathy at all. Is the top level of sport even meant to be ‘fun’? It’s another debate entirely. And if you are of the Bennett school of thought, rather than that of Dowsett, Calmejane or Geschke, the unforgiving commitment of the new generation of riders to this monastic lifestyle could actually be viewed as a benefit: keeping them in better shape and at peak form for longer, meaning they can extend their careers and maximise their potential. Win-win, right?
On the flip side, cycling is one of the most gruelling of elite sports, not only in terms of the physical exertions of training and competition but also the simple fact that riders are putting their bodies on the line day in day out, sadly risking life and limb in the process. Surely they are entitled to a little down time? A chance to let their hair down (or at the very least take their helmets off).
As the sport continues to evolve and science and technology drive the honing of both man and machine, the trend toward more work and less play looks set to continue indefinitely – with the danger that the organic and the mechanical may eventually become homogenised into one computer-watching, data-analysing, carb-weighing whole. It is a sacrifice that many are willing to make in the pursuit of perfection. Perhaps though, in a sport that’s long stood out for its ability not to take itself too seriously – for its colour and flair and quirkiness, and above all for its characters – it may be at the expense of that elusive entity known as ‘fun’. With all eyes on every activity completed, young pro riders’ lives are in danger of devolving into a set of statistics.
Speaking to Le Matin recently, 32-year-old Simon Pellaud, who heads to China for a change of scenery in 2025, stated, 'I honestly wonder if cycling as it has become is viable in the long term. The level, the pace, the risks we take... It's madness. So much is demanded that there is no room for anything other than cycling. The new generations have no life.'
Though ill-prepared and overly long jaunts in freezing conditions may have been replaced by VO2 Max, FTPs and ice baths, the extremes of cycling remain a badge of honour. However these days the vital element of balance appears to be absent. The avoidance of alcohol, commitment to early nights and year-round measurement of calorific intake are sensible for anyone looking to live a healthier lifestyle, but when you add in the additional monitoring, measuring and analysis that may elevate the body to a metaphorical temple, it’s prudent to ask – is it really worth the sacrifice? Only time will tell.
Thanks to @ammattipyöräily and Daniël of @statsoncycling and @cyclingoracle for help with collating statistical data.
Part 2 of ‘All Work and No Play’ considers the impact of the rapidly expanding race calendar on the women’s peloton, read that here.
