ACCELERATED DEVELOPMENT
The past two seasons have seen a youthful revolution in cycling. But why? We delve deep into the anatomy, training and mindset of Tadej Pogačar and co to see if it’s more than just coincidence
WRITER JAMES WITTS IMAGE CHRIS AULD
At 21 years and 364 days, Tadej Pogacar became the youngest winner of the Tour de France in 116 years when he won the 2020 edition of the race. Egan Bernal’s 2019 victory came at 22 years and 196 days, making him the fourth youngest ever. Then we have the likes of Flèche Wallonne champion Marc Hirschi, who is 22, and multiple stage race winner Remco Evenepoel, who has just turned 21. These riders make Giro d’Italia winner Tao Geoghegan Hart, who is 25, and 26-yearold Flanders winner Mathieu van der Poel look positively prehistoric, even though in previous eras they would have still been considered young riders. However, all five of these riders are still well under the average age of a Tour winner’s 28.5 years. So what’s going on? How are champions barely out of adolescence becoming the norm rather than the exception?
TRAIN LIKE A PRO
Digging deep into this youthful revolution required speaking to an old hand, Inigo San Millan PhD. The Spaniard is assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. His areas of interest include exercise metabolism, nutrition, overtraining and peak sports performance, which is clearly paying off in his ‘other’ role as head coach at UAE Emirates.
“It’s clear that riders are training and living more professionally from an early age,” San Millan says from the team’s January training camp in the UAE. “I remember when I rode competitively, I didn’t follow a structured plan until I was around 19. Now, especially with European riders, they’re following a pretty methodical plan at 12 and 13.”
In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell popularised the notion of becoming an expert after 10,000 hours of deliberate practice, and it’s true that Pogacar started early, beating riders two years his senior when just nine years old. Bernal, too, enjoyed early success, winning two departmental races and finishing second in the Cundinamarca Cup at 11. In Matt Rendell’s Colombia: El Pasion! he reveals 12-year-old Bernal’s competitive 13-race calendar that included six victories.
Egan Bernal is the fourth youngest rider to ever win the Tour, aged just 22
Image: Poujoulat/Getty Images (Bernal).
"If we’re monitoring riders earlier with better tools, the chances of physiologically developing earlier are enhanced”