1st Alban Lakata
With the right pre- and post-workout, you can start the race better and recover more quickly after the competition. The Austrian explains how he warms up with the roller, especially for stage races, and how he does the cool-down after the competition:
"Full throttle from the start: The days when marathons got off to a cosy start are long gone. Today, the first hill is ridden with a knife between the teeth. To ensure that your body is "race-ready" right from the start, the engine should be revved up. Ideal for this: the roller trainer. As a rule, you ride on the trainer for 30 minutes. Start off easy for 5 minutes and work your way up to your maximum load for the next 15 minutes. Then do another easy 5 minutes before sprinting for 30 seconds. You should then have around 10-15 minutes to go before the start. Start the cool-down 20 to 30 minutes after the finish. To do this, crank easily at a high cadence (95-100) for 20 minutes. Don't forget to drink!"
2. think in sections
1000 metres in altitude in one go - for many bikers, that sounds more threatening than a wellness holiday. Depending on their fitness level, the athletes hump their way up the incline for 50 to 90 minutes. If you don't have the right mental tools at the ready, you will quickly find yourself in a crisis of purpose. Therefore, think in sections. Bikers with an altimeter use 200 metres of altitude as a guide. Try to achieve a target time for the metres in altitude. As a result, you will lose sight of the seemingly endless summit, but fight your way up the mountain over the 200 metre mini-goals. The advantage of this is that you can motivate yourself again and again and don't overdo it at the start. Therefore: check the profile carefully before the race and set a route for the ascent time.
3. Jochen Käß
The German biker and partner of Markus Kaufmann uses races to build up his form. He explains how this works here:
"Take it easy Races are the best training: this old racing wisdom is almost always true. The reason: the high stimulus of maximum oxygen intake means that your body's endurance system adapts more quickly. Käß makes deliberate use of this fact. In smaller multi-day races, the Centurion-Vaude pro usually starts a little more cautiously and tries to increase his performance every day. Important: eat, drink and dress warmly immediately after the race."
4th Markus Kaufmann
Kaufmann won the last two Transalps together with Käß. BIKE was allowed to look into his bag of tricks. We reveal: This is how the man from Meckenbeuren becomes a mountain goat!
"The competition sometimes looks puzzled when Kaufmann fires up the turbo: Suddenly the Transalp winner is cranking up the mountain at 120 to 130 revolutions per minute and outpaces them all. And all this while sitting down. On average, however, the rider pedals at 95 rpm on the climbs, which seems incredibly high for most athletes. Why does he do this? Kaufmann does this to protect his fast muscle fibres, which tire much earlier than endurance fibres. Fast fibres generate large power surges, slow ones small ones. Due to the high frequency, however, Kaufmann reduces the torque and thus falls back on his slow fibres. As a result, he can still accelerate, especially in the last third of a race. Therefore: train your base at 95 to 100 revolutions per minute in order to fatigue more slowly. Give yourself four to six weeks to adapt."
5. the right meal timing
Your muscles only run when there is enough in the tank. If you don't keep topping up, your heart rate will skyrocket after two hours at the latest and your performance will plummet. What happens: As glycogen stores (storage form of carbohydrates in the body) decrease, the organism falls back on fats, which require more oxygen to metabolise. In a race, this means a higher heart rate and lower performance. So how much should you eat and drink? If you want to be on the safe side, you should consume 80 to 90 grams of carbohydrates and 750 millilitres of fluid per hour. Ideally, you should cover the majority of your carbohydrate requirements with your drink.
6. keep your nerve
Broken chains, gear problems or flat tyres - all of these can and will happen to you at some point during the race. If you prepare for such problems in advance, you can devise strategies to resolve them quickly. Ideally, you should have already operated a chain lock, changed a tyre or made a derailleur work again without a cable. Important when repairing during a race: Keep calm so as not to make any mistakes.
"At the Cape Epic 2014, my chainstay broke after just a few kilometres. We were the overall leaders at the time. Instead of throwing in the towel, my partner Jochen Käß motivated me to repair the bike with tape. The overall standings were gone, but we still managed a few podium places." (Markus Kaufmann)
7 Karl Platt
Whether Cape Epic or Transalp: Karl Platt has been at the top of both races. He is a master of the right timing and perfect tactics. For BIKE magazine, the marathon man explains to us how to compete in a race with as little effort as possible:
"Slipstreaming This is not something that only happens in the Tour de France. In the slipstream of the rider in front of you, you save up to 40 per cent of power. That's the difference between riding at the limit and riding on the basis. Therefore, use every slipstream you can get. Especially on long flat stretches, you will save important energy for the next climb. Try to ride as close as possible to the other rider's rear wheel. In larger groups, you should always stay in the top ten, as this means you will have to pedal less (concertina effect after bends). If you are riding in the lead, make yourself as small as possible."
8 The last meal
Too much of a good thing: If you stuff yourself an hour before the start of the race, you'll be like a sack of rice on the climb. Time your breakfast so that it is eaten three hours beforehand. Ideally, it should consist of simple carbohydrates (no wholemeal muesli). How about rice, porridge or cooked oatmeal? A cup of coffee boosts the body. By the way: the gel or bar just before the start of the race is counterproductive, as the blood sugar level will plummet again without any exertion.
9. be light
Every extra kilo on the mountain costs power (5 to 7 watts). For this reason, dieting can be far more sensible than the best training. Especially for athletes who have a little too much hip gold, losing weight is like doping (10 kilos is 70 watts). But be careful: you should have reached your weight at least three weeks before the race, otherwise you risk losing performance. During this time, eat more carbohydrates again (especially two days before the competition).
10 Kristian Hynek
Alongside Markus Kaufmann, he is one of the strongest bikers on the mountain. The Czech told BIKE that it is above all the elimination of weaknesses that brings him a lot of performance:
"Compensate for weakness: What are your problems: starting too fast, your back or your stomach? Analyse these problems and find the right solution. For example, if you are left behind on the first climb, you should start training with hard intervals. You can prevent back pain on the climb by doing strength training (1 to 3 times a week). By the way: Even professionals don't enjoy training on their weaknesses."
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Never surrender in your head - Interview with Urs Huber, mountain bike pro
Urs, you are known as one of those athletes who push themselves to the limit. How can you motivate yourself like that?
I switch off my head and concentrate only on the essentials. For example, I only look at the rear wheel in front of me and try to hold on to it. I no longer think about winning or anything like that, but only that I don't want to let it break off. I block out everything else.
But doesn't it demotivate you if the others are in a better mood and you are stuck behind them?
No, because I've done too many races for that and know how they go. The tide can turn quickly in a race. Suddenly you feel better and you can attack. Or the others suddenly show a weakness - that can be very motivating. What's more, and you have to keep reminding yourself of this, everyone around you is racing against the clock. It hurts everyone, it's just a question of how you deal with it.
Do you train to be mentally strong?
No, I just always remind myself of situations where I felt bad and then things went well again. These could have been races, but also very tough training sessions. The most important thing is to never give up. If you give up in your head, your legs block and the race becomes even more of a torture.
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