Professional cyclists can improve their performance by training downhill

In such a professional sport and where everything is measured in millimeters, it is surprising that the cyclists themselves and the teams do not give the importance they deserve to the training of descent techniques. There may be ‘old guard’ riders who are surprised that the downhills can be trained, but the trend of the past years and the recent performances of some cyclists – such as the Slovenian Mohoric in Milan-San Remo– highlight the importance of having descent skills. Starting from the premise that not all cyclists have the same predisposition or ability, the fact is that with work you can perfect your technique and, therefore, improve performance.

MD raised this issue after the Enrique More identify with tours that he was seized with an inner fear when he faced down and spoke Oscar Saiz one of the best MTB ‘descenders’ to have been in Spain, 16 seasons as a professional, member in his time of the mighty Volvo Cannondale and top 5 of UCI DH ranking for two years. “First of all, you have to understand that downs have to be trained, a personal struggle that I have fought. Teams are looking for someone to help them because it is evidence. Before, it was someone who knew how to go down, come down, and say that you are crazy or gifted for it, but the teams started to realize that you won by going down and many changed the chip”, Saiz explained to MD, ‘coach’ of Giant offroad teams, who once worked with the team rabbank and that worked in several teams world tour and insists he ‘fight’ some road teams to see that “at least they don’t lose races by going down. down and change their attitude. There’s a lot of money teams are spending in other places and they don’t worry about the method on the downs, they worry about the 50% that goes up, but not the other 50%, which is the downs”.

Aspects like knowing how to read the road, better understanding of distances, knowing where to go, seeing lines, maintaining a good position on the bike and knowing how to react when a mistake or a unexpected events were made. A work accompanied by video and not forgetting technical issues such as tire pressure or disc brakes: “Today all bikes have them, but cyclists have not raised the level when braking. I see many shortcomings in this area, and when some teams started using disc brakes, professional cyclists told me that they are for cyclists”.

Technical improvements that help runners

Undoubtedly, the use of the telescopic seatpost, widespread in mountain biking, is one of the last revolutions to reach professionalism on the road, but Oscar Saiz he believes that more will come in the future and they will come from the mountain again. “I think in the future the road bike will have a suspension, because very light suspensions can be developed, because in the end the bike is still a device that rolls on the road, and it is not perfect and the cyclists go to them. Fast. They need a bike that is very stiff to put out more watts and be better in terms of transferring power from the legs to the rear wheel. It’s not just about aerodynamics and the bike has to be ridden in all kinds of situations.”

Another issue being studied is the issue of the pressures the tires should have, which Oscar Saiz also need to insist. “There are teams where I told them to lower the pressure of the tires, because they will not ride faster by taking the tubular at 9 or 10 bar, and they told me that they will have difficulty and they will . they gradually widen the tires and the rim size is also wider, and the subject of tubeless is also introduced, which is the future, with more technology than tubular, which lacks development and older technology still.”

Thibaut Pinot vs Enric Mas

Óscar Sáiz finds some similarities between what happened Enrique More in Tour de France and what happened in his time the french Thibaut Pinot in the same race, in 2016 he got off the bike. “Nothing happened to him, but he was sad. He was so blocked that he couldn’t even get on the bike. I met other cyclists who, faced with similar situations, thought of getting off the bike because they couldn’t get off. . All you have to do is work on the technical part that affects the runner and not only with respect to the descent, but in any kind of situation”.

What Óscar is clear about is that “when you don’t go up or down, I understand that it’s a blockage of pressure. It is formed in the athlete. The team has expectations around him, the sponsors of some exes, the the fan pushes and the cyclist sets some goals, in the end it all comes down to knowing how to manage the pressure. In the end, athletes are professionals. They work in all areas, nutrition, aerodynamics , tactics… and technique is a part that should also be included in this preparation, as well as stress management. You must know how to manage pressure and not everyone knows how to do it, and the proof is those elite athlete who collapses”.

A technical work that is often strengthened by the contribution of a sports psychologist, who contributes his grain of sand so that the runner gains confidence and improves his performance on the bike. “Everything helps”, assures Óscar Saiz