Tour de France: methods of training to expensive technology, understand the factors behind the rise of Team Sky

Team Sky is sitting well in this year's race, with drivers in the top two places overall. With their current form and lack of a strong challenge from the peloton, they seem on track to achieve a rare "one-two" on the Tour de France podium. Of course, Sky's dominance is not a rarity in recent years, as they have won five of the last six editions of this race. In addition, if Geraint Thomas maintains his lead up to Paris, he will be the third Sky driver to win the race, which speaks volumes about the strength of the teams.

All this by a team that was launched just eight years ago in 2010, with a stated goal of winning their first Tour within five years. At that time, without any significant British pedigree in the competition, this target was considered as ambitious by almost everyone in the cycling community. However, these same people were forced to eat their buff when Sky won his first Tour in three years and ended up winning one more in the target five-year period. So, it is natural to wonder what is the mantra of success for this relatively young team, which has exceeded its goals so quickly. Here we badyze the gears that rotate the Sky bike machine as easily and quickly.

Doping

Let's get things right from the start. Since Sky has been imposed as a force to be reckoned with, claims have never gone far behind. Most of them are a survivor of the legacy of some American team who led the Tour a few years ago and Sky is just at the end of the trust deficit. However, the British team is also partly to blame, with their lack of transparency and arrogance alienating them.

The case of "jiffy bag" at the time of Bradley Wiggins and more recently the "scandal salbutamol" of Chris Froome to skeptics. But the team has a self-proclaimed zero tolerance policy on doping and has strict contractual rules to discourage practice. In addition, with the current speeds of the pack, the doping seems to be out of the race. Therefore, I think we can give Team Sky a chance on this aspect.

Money

Sky is expected to generate $ 550 million in advertising and an annual budget of more than $ 40 million. are both unpublished figures in road cycling. This gives them the financial means to buy the best equipment, hire the best support staff, have access to advanced tests on wind turbines and much more.

But the most important advantage of their deep pockets. Wiggins and Froome may be exceptionally talented runners, but they would not have won half without the super-servants (a cyclist who runs for the benefit of the team leader) around them – more on this later though. It is sufficient to say that if money can not buy happiness, it can surely clear the way to the success of the Tour.

Tech

This may be the result of Sky's crazy budgets. how and where they invest their money. Sky has pushed the limits of technology in equipment, diet, training methods, clothing and all aspects of cycling that can be improved by technology. We have all eyes open on their high-tech outfits, including special aerodynamic cushions that aimed to shave the vital seconds during timed practice. The philosophy of team director Dave Brailsford has been to achieve "marginal gains" in all aspects of the sport, and technology is a major catalyst for this philosophy.

Composition of the Team

Sky has enrolled some of the best talent in the world. Road cycling is a team sport, and a group of talented and motivated runners is essential for any team with a winning ambition. Thus, each year, we saw Team Sky gain speed during brutal uphills, the driver having made long turns at the head of the pack. This "offensive defense" has often knocked out competitors and has not been able to launch sustained attacks. Brailsford was also ruthless in his selection of runners, and did not hesitate to pull out big names like Wiggins and Mark Cavendish from the team, when he felt that he had to better options.

Race Management [19659002] You can have the best riders on your team, have the best technology, plan every tactic in detail, but it's useless if you do not get the point of Running management on a hot day in the mountains, especially the leader does not have the best of days. This weakness has hit several riders and teams – Andy Schleck comes immediately to mind. But the smart management of the race is the hallmark of Team Sky.

On the one hand, they are the masters of high mountains in the mountains, but they are also experts in saving energy through conservative races. come for that. This gives their leader the shield they may need at times and saves energy to attack when other teams are weak.

Training Methods

Consistent with the philosophy of marginal earnings, Sky emphasizes the evolution of new methods of training that aim to get the maximum benefit for their runners. They were the team to introduce ideas like "warming" and "dietary protocols after the race".

This may seem obvious, but before Sky no team has followed these techniques in a scientific way. Again, money helps here, Sky having the resources for regular high altitude training camps. Brailsford also introduced the surprising concept of preferring its riders to spend their energy in training camps rather than actual races. He insists that runners often run in smaller races, while during training, he can make them repeat the tempo or train to control the bunch. These new ideas have been implemented in race conditions with impressive results.

Desire and Motivation

All of the above factors are inconsequential if riders do not have the desire and motivation to be the best. in their sport. It is here that Brailsford nurtured a culture of excellence, always asking his pilots to challenge the outgoing captain. Being a new team, the desire to prove that everyone was wrong was naturally present during the early years, but Brailsford managed to keep this fire alive by changing the composition of his team and challenging his riders internally. They say that winning is a habit and Sky has surely gotten into the habit of winning the Tour.

We tried to capture the crucial factors that made Team Sky a formidable force in a short period of time. Many teams criticize Sky for its deep pockets and arrogance, but it's up to the competition to learn from the British team and topple it to its own game. If the other teams can not lift their part, they can not blame Sky for not cooperating and having themselves to blame. I'll leave the last word to Team Sky's former sports director, Sean Yates, who neatly summarizes their fierce competition culture: "The Tour is not a popularity contest. But if that was the case, the chances are that Sky will adapt and win it. "