- We're at Vuelta a España, stage one,
And we're asking, what's the hardest training session
that the pros have to do?
(huffing)
- Probably long climbs, and with high power,
but every training is hard, actually,
if you want to be better.
- I live up in Andora, on the border of Spain and France.
If you can do five hours training in Andora
without leaving Andora, then you had a hard day.
- Yeah, I've been up there a couple times
and it is bloody hard.
- My hardest training session is, uh,
I think we were in Argentina
and, uh, I think it was almost 50 degrees,
so, uh, it was quite warm,
but I don't think it's healthy anymore now.
- No, I don't think you should train in that heat.
- For sure the sprint sessions we do with the team, like,
- Like full gas?
Yeah, like uh, like two times 30 seconds
and then, uh threes times 20 seconds.
- 30 seconds are actually really hard
because you think, yeah, like after ten seconds
you're already starting to feel it
and then you gotta hold on for the last 20 seconds.
- For sure, that's the hardest one.
- My hardest training sessions are definitely
in the Alps on the long climbs,
with some (mumbles) blocks and a five minute blocks.
Uh, and especially this summer in the heat, it's uh--
- Ah, mate, that sounds horrendous.
- I did, uh, an eight hour training session.
- Eight hours? That's quite hard.
- I think we did 240 kilometers in the,
the Spanish mountains, so it was uh,
it was a hard day.
- You're gonna burn some calories doin' that.
- You have to earn your dessert after, uh,
after your dinner.
- What's your hardest training session?
- Climb-- - (chuckles) Any climb?
- Long ride with a lot of climb,
that is the hardest one for me.
You need to start full gas and then,
where is your limit?
- I have a lap, 200k. - Yeah.
- 4,000 meters climb, that's pretty hard.
- Ouch.
What's your hardest training session?
- Ah, for me, when I need to make a, uh,
intermittent working, like uh,
30 second full gas, 30 second off, it's uh really hard.
- 30 seconds full gas is longer than you think.
It does get really hard, doesn't it?
- Yeah, yeah, it's uh--the first one maybe
is okay, it's okay,
but then when you finish the five minute
or eight minutes, last two times is really, really hard.
Yeah, yeah--
- What's your hardest training session?
- Probably, mentally, anything on my time trial bike.
It's always a struggle to get out the door on that thing.
Um, physically, probably,
Like uh, like capacity type work.
Anything short and intense, you know, like--
- 30 second max efforts?
- Uh, more like one to five minute,
because like you know you can do it,
but, I mean, thing is now everyone has power meters,
so like, your coach knows what you're capable of doing,
- You can't, you can't cheat it.
- No, you can't.
- I think the hardest, uh, training session is, uh,
to do, uh, some, uh, (mumbles) workouts
in the flat, it's uh, that hurts me the most.
- Are they just like 20 minute efforts?
- Yeah, it's like, uh, eight to twelve minutes,
uh, 20 minutes efforts.
And if you do this three, four times in the training
then this is really hard.
- Yeah, that sounds really hard.
- When I do a test, uh, 20 minutes all out.
It's like a TT from 20 minutes.
- Full gas? - Full gas.
(huffing)
- Near to my home, last year I was climbing
the Vuelta in the stage at (Spanish)
- Was it really steep?
- Yeah, it like, to the person is five minutes, 500 watts.
- Ooh, ouch, that's gotta hurt.
- What's your hardest training session?
- Uh, I think definitely the TT sessions.
Uh, they're the, they're the most intense ones.
Uh, you know, especially like, you know,
some riders probably say that the 20 minute, uh,
climbs or whatever, but I think (mumbles) has some
high capacity, regardless of the (mumbles)
so it's brilliant.
- Anything full gas basically.
- Anything full gas, yeah, cause you know,
when you do a one minute full gas
you still end up the same way as if you did
a five minute full gas.
- Yeah, that's fair.
- Anything that's high intensity.
Uh, some three minutes max efforts.
Uh, or, uh power profile tests are always a bit of a--
- So anything max, really.
From like 20 minutes to three minutes to ten seconds.
- Yeah, anything that's max, uh, where you have to
go all in and it's not a controlled effort.
- The hard was, uh, you know,
the stage in Tour de France when I had to finish.
Something like that, that is hard.
But otherwise, it's pleasure.
- So, I've had a really good chat with a lot of the riders,
asking them what their hardest training session is.
And we got an array of different answers.
But I hope you've enjoyed it.
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