Catching up with rising racing star Cat Ferguson

I am feeling really privileged to be able to put a number on tomorrow: Movistar rider looks forward to Milan-Sanremo Donne and talks about her new life

I caught up with Movistar’s rising star, Cat Ferguson yesterday, on the eve of the Milan-Sanremo Donne. She was really looking forward to the race. Here’s what she had to say:

Being here in Genoa for the Sanremo is amazing! It’s such a beautiful location to have a race. The famous climbs – Cipressa and the Poggio are definitely as challenging as they were when I’ve watched the men’s race on TV over the years. 

It’s not just in the ascent you gain, but the descents are technically really challenging and I think tomorrow it’s going to rain also so I think that adds another element of technicality. so I think it’s definitely going to be an interesting race as it always is in the men’s and so now finally we have the women’s version, so I’m super-excited and feeling really lucky to be able to race tomorrow.

I think, technically I’m not amazing when you look at me in a cyclocross race but in a road race I’m okay in the wet, so I think the descents tomorrow will play to my strengths. I’m not a climber so I think for me I can a bit on the descents, even if it’s in terms of positioning before the climbs. So it’s definitely something I look forward to tomorrow.

Being from Yorkshire definitely helps in bad weather. I prefer a race to be nice and sunny and warm just because it’s nicer and there’s less things that can go wrong but I definitely know that when it does rain also it does play to my strengths and it can really demoralise my competition and for me it does not really do that and looking back at my performances I have actually had some of my best results in horrible weather and I think maybe I am more suited to when it is harder in every element of the race – the weather, the physical aspect. 

Growing up in Yorkshire has made me quite gritty and determined no matter the weather to always do my best and show my best. So if it rains it makes it feel much more like a fight tomorrow I think, to add to the story of the Sanremo. So it’s going to be such an exciting day.

Compared with the roads in Yorkshire the climbs in the Sanremo are not actually as steep as I thought they would be. The climbs where I’m from are normally a bit steeper – more gradient. But then after doing 100/150km definitely any climbs are challenging for me especially as I am definitely not a climber. But the roads do remind me of home because it’s very much sort of rolling up and down all the time and that’s what you get in Yorkshire. It’s not just one big climb or anything. So I think they suit me and I can compare them to what I get back home.

When I’m back home my favourite loop is one that goes near Malham Cove. There are some lovely roads around there and near Pen y Gent. So if I’ve got an endurance zone 2 ride that’s my favourite place to go. It’s not great if I have efforts or anything just because the climbs are so steep there’s no point doing your efforts because you have to do an effort just to get up the climb itself.

I would say the climbs back home are a similar sort of length to the 4km and 3km in Cipressa and Poggio, so definitely in terms of the distance of the climbs, it’s sort of what I’ve been used to.

I was really really surprised at the outcome at Trofeo Alfredo Binda race in many ways [Cat finished in the third place in what was her first ever WorldTour race]. It was never ever anywhere near the outcome I expected to happen. It was a total shock. During the race itself I was really struggling with many things, from just the basics of fuelling to positioning, I wasn’t believing in myself, not communicating with the team, everything like that. 

If you’d told me at that moment I was going to come third I wouldn’t have believed you. So I think to finish it off the way it did was incredible and it has definitely given me some confidence I think the race taught me a lot – not the way I thought it would teach me. The result doesn’t change anything going forwards as I still want to focus on my development rather than on results.

Nobody else is putting pressure on me to get these results. Of course it’s nice to be up there for myself, but I’m only 18 and I still feel really privileged just to be able to race like Milan-Sanremo, so for me the most important thing is doing my job for the team and proving to my team-mates that I’m here to help them and help them get their results first.

I joined Movistar as a stagiaire [in 2024] and I feel really lucky to have been able to do a couple of races as a stagiaire. It’s given me a bit of a head start for this year which has meant that I can feel relaxed when I do the WorldTour races – my first races. This was especially helpful after doing cyclocross and needing to have time off and more time to train. It’s meant that I could just come and hit the biggest races straight away after gaining a little bit of experience. I do feel really lucky to be on the Movistar team.

The energy and the atmosphere we have in the team is really lovely. I think the addition of Marlen [Reusser] and having Liane [Lippert] as sort of our leaders and then having the younger riders like me and Carys [Lloyd] who has also just joined the team is a really really nice balance and the contrast between the young and the old, experience and everything is just really something special and do feel like this year we are sort of a new team with a new approach and a really positive mindset.

I think lots of the girls on the team have acted in a sort of sisterly or motherly role to me which is so lovely and I really do have a lot to learn, even just from things like weighing all my food and learning how to put a radio on. They really have accepted me and welcomed me and found me not to be the annoying little 18-year old asking loads of questions and everything!

I do feel really lucky to be surrounded by the girls and Claire Steels has been like a mum to me on the team. She’s British as well, so it’s lovely to have that in common with her. Again it feels definitely like a bit of a family which is super-nice. When I was on the junior team my dad actually ran it, so I’ve been used to family environments on teams. So to be able to carry that on and have that atmosphere and feeling in a WorldTour team I think is really special.

I said good bye to my parents and my dog and everything and live in Andorra now. I’ve been there for three weeks now, and am really really loving it despite the weather not actually being great right now. I am really loving the independent life.

I live on my own but other team-mates and other girls live nearby so it’s nice to be able to train with others.

I’m not used to having so much time for training because before I would be at school and then going to training. But now I just train. So I do have a lot of time at the moment. So I am spending more time trying to learn Spanish, having online lessons with a tutor. I’m hoping by the end of the year I’ll be able to speak it better, though as a typical British person, I’m very very much not naturally good at languages so it’s taking quite a lot of work!

There’s a real buzz around the race. Our team is staying in a hotel where there are quite a few other teams. It just feels quite special as it’s the first time for me doing a monument race, but it also feels strange because it’s the first time for everyone else doing this race. I am lucky to join women’s cycling at this time. It’s the best women’s cycling has ever been – which in some way is a little bit sad that it’s taken this long for us to have almost equal opportunities as the men’s peloton. But then again I feel extremely privileged to be able to join at this time when there is so much opportunity.

I don’t expect to be the protected rider in the race - I’ll find out at the team meeting tonight. I expect my job more to be about positioning the team and maybe going with any of the main attacks in the race I think.

A good outcome for me is to feel like the team is happy with me and how I’ve done my job. It might sound like a bit of a strange goal, but it’s what this year is about for me. It’s about learning and carrying out the job the team gives me to the best of my ability. If that’s just getting a bottle from the feed or getting a bottle from the car or positioning someone into a climb.

That’s what I’m going to commit to tomorrow – whatever they tell me to do. So the goal is very qualitative tomorrow. It’ll be about whether I feel I’ve completed my job well and I’ve taken that extra step in learning and developing. This can hopefully help my career in a couple of years when I will hopefully change focus to be a more results based rider.

So I am feeling really privileged to be able to put a number on tomorrow. So it will be a race to remember forever despite how the race goes.

Related posts

Milan-Sanremo Donne: Pre-race catch-up with Elisa Balsamo

Women's WorldTour stories: Trofeo Alfredo Binda by Kim Le Court Pienaar

Women's WorldTour stories: Strade Bianche by Mavi Garcia

Women's WorldTour stories: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad by Alice Towers

Milan-Sanremo Donne - Pre-race catch-up with Elisa Balsamo

It would be a dream come true! Previewing the Milan-Sanremo Donne with Elisa Balsamo

Lidl-Trek rider Elisa Balsamo is buzzing after doing a hat-trick of victories at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda Women's WorldTour race, up near Lake Maggiore, Italy.

Photo: Lidl-Trek

Now she has headed 200km South to the Ligurian coast to gear up for the Milan-San Remo Women. The return of this cycle race to the women's calendar has been greeted with much excitement and anticipation - not least for Italian riders like Elisa.

With her team-mate Ilaria Sanguineti, who is from Sanremo, the Lidl-Trek team have been studying all aspects of this course meticulously. From the start in Genoa, via the key ramps at Capo Mele, Capo Cervo, Capo Berta, onwards to Cipressa, and to the last decisive point of the race, Poggio di San Remo just outside the stylish riviera town, the riders have got to know every inch of tarmac over the last three months.

Furthermore, the team's sports director Ina-Yoko Teutenberg competed in the race in 2000, before the 20-year hiatus in 2005.

Like the previous incarnation of the race, the Primavera Rosa, the route goes along the Ligurian coast. But in this revived race, the athletes will compete over 156km from Genoa to the stylish riviera town rather than the 118km that the racers did from Varazze a quarter of a century ago. Nevertheless, the competition will be every bit as competitive as when the 25-year old Ina was edged into second place by Diana Ziliute in a bunch sprint.

The veteran may want to see if she can go one better with one of her protegees. Here's what Elisa had to say in the virtual pre-race press briefing this week:

Elisa Balsamo's thoughts on Milan Sanremo Donne

It’s really good that it’s [Milan-Sanremo Donne] coming back and I’m really looking forward to it. For me, racing in Italy is always nice. It’s also not so far away from my house, so my family can join and I really like this place.

I think this is a big achievement to have this race back. In the last five years we were really fighting for a full calendar. We are missing just a few races, but this one is an important one in the calendar, and I’m really happy that we have it again. I think that everyone will want to win because you can make history in Sanremo, especially after 20 years. So I think it’s going to be a big fight.

I’m feeling good and I also think that you never know what can happen in these kind of races. It’s more or less like [Trofeo] Binda as you don’t know if it will be a bunch sprint, a small bunch, a breakaway, or a solo, and I think it’ll be the same in Sanremo even if the profile of the race is really different. 

My parents really liked cycling so when I was really young we were always watching it on the TV but it was like a kind of a nice day in front of the TV because the race was really long! I was so excited to watch the fight on Poggio or Cipressa and you didn’t know if there would be a sprint or a little bunch, a crazy downhill. So since I was a child I was always watching this race. 

One recent memory that sticks out in my mind was from two years ago when watching the descent of Mathieu Van der Poel on the Poggio, when he went to the front and pushed on ahead at top speed. I watched it and was amazed – and thought, wow, bloody hell! I can’t believe it. He just attacked and didn’t even seem to have a single doubt - not even for a second. He just went off straight ahead and that really struck me because in the end the Sanremo can even be won by a millisecond in this aspect when you just decide to go full pelt on a downhill. You look for a split second, jump ahead and you've taken 50 metres that no one is able to bridge to. For me that was a most impressive thing.

It is great to have Ina as our DS [Director Sportive] because she has raced almost every race we are doing now and so I think it is just nice because she can give a lot of suggestions and advice. We are lucky to have Ina with us.

She was also riding with us today [Tuesday] and yesterday, so I think she can give us important feedback also on the climbs and yes of course she is a really strong rider. Ina's opinion is that they are climbs that are suited to a classics rider and also to a sprinter who can go over climbs that aren’t too long. She said if you can manage to hold on then it’s all about believing in yourself and being able to give that extra push. So she told me I should believe in myself on Saturday. 

I know the roads and the climbs quite well. I came here with Ilaria [Sanguineti] in December as she lives really close to Sanremo and knows the area really well as she trains on these roads almost every day, so she gave advice around the descents. Ilaria knows everything about these roads - every single nook and cranny, especially on the Poggio. She knows all the secrets! She said I should be particularly careful if it rains as it would be very slippery. We also had some days where I visited here, and I have seen the climbs again today. So I think we will be ready.

The downhills are quite technical. Our team worked with a person for the technical part of the training in the training camp in December and January. But we also have this guy here with us and he can help us to improve in the downhills. I think it is really important because we could see the men’s race was also won in the downhill of Poggio some years. So it is not only about being fast in the climbs but also good in the downhill.

We have seen the weather forecast and it could be quite bad with the rain, but then again there’s nothing we can do about it. So for me, there’s no point in letting it get to me as we have no control over that. Of course I would have preferred sunshine but ….we’ll see.

Everybody learned from Nieuwsblad what happened [None of the big teams was willing to chase down the breakaway which accrued 14 minutes and the top riders missed out on a win, with Demi Vollering, arguably the strongest rider in the race, placing third - more than three minutes behind the surprise winner.] but also everyone really wants to win Sanremo. There can be a breakaway, but of course all the peloton will work together to not have 10 minutes to the breakaway and then everyone will fight on the climb so I am quite sure that at least five or six teams can work together to keep the breakaway close. It’s such an important race and everyone wants to fight for the win, so I’m quite sure that it’s [Nieuwsblad scenario] not going to happen. 

I think that there will be attacks from Cipressa. There are a lot of strong teams and strong climbers and classics riders and I think Cipressa will be really hard from the bottom to the top, but they will try to attack. But it is still a long distance between Cipressa and Poggio, and maybe we could come back together and a small group will form. Then on the Poggio they will attack. 

I think that the climbs are hard but not crazy climbs so they are good climbs for a classics rider or a sprinter that is able to survive on the climbs. In my opinion Capo Berta is a little bit underestimated. It is 2km and is quite steep, but in reality it is a bit too far from the finish to make much difference. So to attack on the Capo Berta could mean that the team is better placed to be able take a lead and hold on through to Cipressa and right up to Poggio. But I think that would be a bit difficult because we are teams of six, which is one rider less than the men and I think that riding with one rider less wouldn’t make a significant difference to the race in that aspect. However, if the race is going at a good pace you could form a small group going over Capo Berta and it could make a small difference to the peloton 

My perfect scenario is a small bunch sprint but I know that before that I need to survive the climbs. Also I think the downhill is quite technical so I really hope for a small bunch sprint.

I also looked at the finish straight. As a sprinter It's a really important thing to recon the last few metres of a race like that. I must say it was a bit chaotic, as it was very crowded - it's hard to imagine that road [Via Roma] being empty! The road goes slightly uphill at the end and that's fine for me.

For sure I will be the leader for a sprint. But we also have Niamh [Fisher-Black] who was good in Strade [Bianche] so she is the climber of the team and she can also be an option but I think honestly we have to race as a team and stay together as much as possible. You never know, of course, what will happen, but I think we are a strong team.  

Coming back after two really bad crashes was not easy, but I am really happy that I am here, that I feel good and yes I feel that I was a little bit unlucky in the last two years but I was always fighting so I am just happy to be back, to feel good and to be here with my team. 

I would say that I was fortunate at Binda because of the pace of the race and I was looked after by my team very well. We had Lizzie [Deignan] in the breakaway and so we were able to keep me going at a more relaxed pace. The fact that there was the breakaway ahead meant the first few laps were done, let’s say, with hardly any attacks and at a more constant pace, which was helpful for me. Then in the final laps when the pace went up I felt good, so that confirmed that we had worked well together.

It’s really hard for the organisation to close all the roads here as the roads are so busy and I can understand that it’s hard to organise long races also for us. But I think 160km is a good distance and am just happy that it [Milan-Sanremo] is in the calendar.

Photo: Lidl-Trek

To be honest I don’t really agree when people say women's classics races should be longer or stage races should have more stages. I think that the spectacle of the race is not linked to the races being longer or the Tours having more stages. Maybe the Grand Tours could be a little bit longer, for example over 10 days. But I don’t think you should confound the fact that a race could be more interesting because of its length. They are two separate things. A race could be hard, and be interesting even if it is just 140, 150, 160km. At the end of the day it’s for the riders to make the difference. In my opinion having races that are so long risks losing the suspense and losing a bit of the spectacle that a race could otherwise bring.

I am sure that the road will be full of crowds on the climbs and on the finish straight because in Italy we love cycling and so everyone around here will come to see the race. 

For me personally, winning the Sanremo would be a dream – especially as an Italian cyclist. It would be a wonderful thing. So for me it’s a big objective because it is the first Sanremo in a long time. Winning this would be even better than winning a stage of the Giro because I really love the Classics. I really love one-day races. I’ve already lived the emotion of winning a Giro stage and wearing the Maglia Rosa. So winning the Sanremo is another different emotion I would like to live.   

Related posts

Women's WorldTour Stories - Omloop Het Nieuwsblad by Alice Towers

Women's WorldTour Stories - Strade Bianche by Mavi Garcia

Women's WorldTour Stories - Alfredo Binda by Kim Le Court Pienaar

Women’s WorldTour Stories: Strade Bianche, Trofeo Alfredo Binda & Milan-Sanremo by Kim Le Court Pienaar

Trofeo Alfredo Binda has given me a lot of confidence and motivation for Milan-Sanremo

AG Insurance-Soudal rider Kim Le Court Pienaar competed in the Trofeo Alfredo Binda and spent time in a long breakaway group of 14 riders. They didn’t quite manage to stay away right to the finish line, but the Mauritian National Champion managed to sprint to 9th place. 

Photo credit: Wout Beel & Cedric Praetere

Alfredo Binda result:

1. Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek)

2. Blanka Vas (Team SD Worx-Protime)

3. Cat Ferguson (Movistar Team)

4. Marianne Vos (Team Visma-Lease a Bike)

5. Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco)

9. Kim Le Court Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal Team)

Kim talks about her season so far, and how she is looking forward to Milan-Sanremo:

Sanremo pre-race build-up

We have been in Alassio, which is along the route of the Milan-Sanremo. It’s really nice being on the beach and the weather is good for now, but I don’t know if it will be like that on Saturday for Sanremo.

The pictures would have been amazing if the weather was nice, but so far the weather forecast is not very good. But I’m looking forward to it, and we will do what we can. 

 

I only started racing in the WorldTour last year, so it’s only been half a year, but it’s been good.  Last year I had some good results. I came into this year with a completely different prep, so I was expecting better results than last year, but I wasn’t expecting it to be this good. 

UAE Tour was my first race of the season, and I wasn’t expecting to be third on GC [general classification] and so that was a really good result for myself – which helped my confidence and motivation for the next races. I had done Strade [Bianche] and [Trofeo Alfredo] Binda last year so I knew what was coming. 

How Strade and Binda were played out

In Strade I went into the race a completely different rider and wanted to do something special – I got into the break instead of just sitting on and trying to hope for the best. 

There were a lot of crashes, a lot of punctures. It’s one of those races where everything has to go your way because you could have any mechanicals or crashes or things like that, so I think you have to have the smoothest of days to get a good result. It’s not only about your physical strength but about luck and hoping it’s your day.

Luckily I didn’t have any incidents but my team-mates did. I narrowly missed a lot of crashes, and I jumped over one bike and managed not to crash! I made my way into the main breakaway, but then we got caught with 15km to go and my legs just gave up. I started cramping and that was it. So maybe I didn’t have a mechanical on the bike, but a mechanical in the legs!

In our group we were fighting for third place [behind Demi Vollering and Anna van der Breggen], but I had used all my matches early on and finished in 14th place. It is what it is, but I had been willing to go into the race with the mindset of losing it all to do something special. Unfortunately it didn’t work out this time – but maybe next time.

Racing at Alfredo Binda (Photo: Matteo Roose)

Binda was a great race. Obviously ninth is not what we wanted but the break I was in never managed to stay away on both occasions that we got away, and so obviously the sprinters came back. 

I’m not the fastest sprinter if I get someone like Elisa [Balsamo] next to me. Not being in a good position on the last lap in both of the climbs and having to bridge the gap to the best riders in the world such as Elisa and Demi, then being there with the top contenders is something super-special and I have now come out of that race having a lot of confidence and motivation and so it’s been super-special for me personally as a rider. 

I needed a race like Binda, as it is helpful for me, coming into the next few races. At Binda and at Strade I felt physically amazing and like my training was on point. Whatever I’d done in the off-season was paying off. Of course there’s still work to be done but so far I’m super-happy with how it’s going. 

Binda confidence-builder

However, I still fan-gaze other riders for sure! My team is trying to change that headspace of mine. For me it’s very different to come from nothing and being part of the best. It’s very strange, very weird to try and realise that I am one of them. I need to see them as just another rider. 

I’m the type of person on and off the bike that always questions herself and second guesses herself. I’ll feel great and I’ll have good races but I still have question marks about whether I am good enough and think they are better than me – especially when you are there with top girls like Demi and Elisa whom I’ve watched on TV since a young age. 

I think in sports you could be very strong but your head is the most important part of it, and maybe mine just needed a race like Binda where I was able to get a top 10 position even with what happened. 

My coach is one of the people who has helped with building my confidence, and for sure my team. The staff, the girls who have raced with me in Binda could see my strength, and they have told me how strong or impressive I was, and how I should believe in myself. 

Ash [Moolman Pasio], Gladys [Verhulst-Wild], Urška [Žigart] have congratulated me, and Jolien [D’hoore], the main sports director of the team gave me a call after the race.

I’m quite a gentle and soft person in the bunch so I get walked over quite easily but they tell me I need to be a bit more aggressive. So I have to work on that as well. I have to stop making friends in the bunch, but I like making friends! That’s just me – but I think overall, the whole team is just super.

Photo credit: Matteo Roose

Looking forward to the Poggio

 

I’m really excited about the Sanremo. I’m feeling great and we are all feeling super-excited for the race. I really don’t know what to expect. We’ve done the recon of the route. It looks good. So we will just have to see. The rain is going to come on Saturday so that might change a little bit of how the race goes but I’m excited to get going and to see how the race will go.

I think in the race you should probably be awake from about 50 to 40km to go. I would say from 50km to go because it starts getting into the small kickers towards the end. Also positioning before going into Cipressa and Poggio is super-important, as well as of course the downhill of Cipressa and Poggio. I think the downhills will be where everything will make a difference. You can win or lose a race in the downhill of Poggio. 

I could try and rely on my mountain bike abilities on the descents but the difference is that in mountain biking you are mostly alone when going downhill so you don’t have to worry about people around you, unlike in a road race. I hope the racing will be hard going uphill so that we are in a small group going into the Poggio at least, and not a big bunch on the downhill. 

Early beginnings and those African rainbow stripes

During the season I have an apartment in Girona, Spain. My parents live in Mauritius and I visit them when I go back for the National Championships, but my home is in Cape Town, South Africa. I settled there in 2021 and was in Pretoria before that.

As the National Champion of Mauritius I wear the jersey but I get a lot of comments about it. It was more last year than this year because it was new to people. At first people were really shocked about it, but slowly and surely in the season as I was racing and getting some results and getting interviewed about it multiple times I tried to always mention that it is my National Champion’s jersey – people need to know that it’s not my fault my national flag looks like the world champion’s jersey. I’ve seen people comment on social media asking what was invented first - Mauritius or UCI? The UCI approved it – they’re my country colours so you can’t really do anything about a flag. They can’t not approve it! Lotte [Kopecky – current World Road Race Champion]  said to me that in the beginning she thought, “What the hell is that?” But then she got used to it – it is what it is! 

Before coming to Europe to join AG Insurance-Soudal I did mountain bike racing around the African continent. Road racing was something I that had always been a dream of mine for a very long time. I was on the European scene in 2015 and 2016 but for smaller teams that weren’t World Tour back then. But that didn’t work out. I was still super-young, I wasn’t paid, which made it financially super-difficult and I felt lonely away from my family.

So I returned to Africa where I had a support network from my husband Ian, and my family, and I switched to the mountain bike. I did mountain biking all these years until I won the Cape Epic in 2023 and the Swiss Epic in the same year, and all the big mountain biking stage races.

 

Then my husband was like “Well what’s next? What now? Are you just going to carry on doing the same thing over and over or do you want to try and do road racing?” 

We could see the women’s scene and the peloton was getting really exciting, and growing enormously, but I replied, “You are mad! Nobody knows me and it’s such a small community. No one will give me a chance. I’m a mountain biker. I’ve no results on the road, no UCI points. I’ve got nothing.” 

He just said we should try, but I didn’t want to do it. I was just too scared to get rejected. In the end he said he would email people - so he did. He emailed and messaged every single team and finally we got a reply from a few teams. AG [Insurance-Soudal] was the one that stuck. They were also riding Specialized bikes in the team, which was the brand I was already on for mountain biking, so it made a lot of sense for me. AG gave me a chance in November 2023 and it’s because of my husband that I’m here actually. It was a really long shot! 

Photo credit: Matteo Roose

Warm welcome at AG Insurance-Soudal

For sure I was very nervous because of my experience in 2015 and 2016. I thought it would be unwelcoming and cold, as that’s the experience I had in the past. But in fact it was completely the opposite. I was super-welcomed. It was open arms from the first camp and after a few days I felt super-comfortable. I was super-shocked at how nice it was.

I am quite close to the Australian girls because we can kind of relate a little bit. We come from far and we have the same culture back home and we know what it feels like to be away so far from home. But I am also close to a lot of the girls - the new girls that just signed in the team now are super-nice, and I am close to Gaia [Masetti].

 

After Sanremo, I hope to have gelato and pizza and then stay with my team-mate Gladys in Nice. It’s my birthday on Sunday so I’ll go out somewhere nice in Nice with Gladys and join Urška and spend the day there or in Monaco.

There is a very friendly environment but at the end of the day it is a job, and you need to remember that this is work. We will see how things go at Sanremo, but we will do our best to get a result.   

Related posts

Women's WorldTour Stories: Strade Bianche by Mavi Garcia

Women's WorldTour Stories: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad by Alice Towers

Women's WorldTour Stories: Strade Bianche by Mavi Garcia

My skin was sore from the dust and sweat! Liv Jayco AlUla rider Mavi Garcia talks about an eventful Strade Bianche cycle race

One of the more established Spring Classics in the women's cycle racing calendar, Strade Bianche, is always a much-anticipated competition, despite it being one of the most unpredictable races, where luck comes into play as much as, if not more than form.

Europe's "most Southern of the Northern Classics" race, based in Tuscany, is a hilly 136km starting and finishing in Siena and taking in 13 sectors of gravelly, unsurfaced white roads, known as strade bianche or sterrati totalling 50km.

Some of the sterrati go up steep gradients of up to 15%, with the most infamous ones being Colle Pinzuto, and Le Tolfe. In a change from last year the riders were treated to two loops of these stiff challenges. Also new for this year was the arduous 9.3km Serravalle sector, which immediately preceded a stretch of a similar distance at San Martino in Grania. 

To add a sting in the tail is the 9% gradient on the cobbled climb up Via Santa Caterina to reach the finish line in Piazza del Campo. This historic square in the centre of Siena plays host to other well-known slightly crazy, off-beat events - notably  Il Palio - a 90-second horse race around the Piazza in front of thousands of cheering fans. Strade Bianche is the cycling equivalent. 

In contrast to the previous week's Women's WorldTour race, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, there were no standoffs. At Strade Bianche everyone just set to the task along the challenging roads through Tuscany from the get-go. The riders had no choice, otherwise they'd risk being left...for dust, I guess!

Result:

1. Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ)

2. Anna van der Breggen (Team SD Worx-Protime)

3. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Team Visma-Lease a Bike)

4. Juliette Labous (FDJ-SUEZ)

5. Mavi Garcia (Liv AlUla Jayco)

Five-time Spanish National Road Race Champion Mavi Garcia, who races for Liv AlUla Jayco, competed in the Strade Bianche and is a regular visitor to the gravel classic. She recounts her experience:

Photo: Sprint Cycling/Greenedge

Regaining confidence after UAE Tour crash

I have a few races to do in Italy, over the next couple of weeks but it feels better for me to return to my home in Mallorca in between the races so I can properly rest and train in a relaxed environment. 

I travelled to the race, having competed at the Setmana Ciclistica Valenciana and the UAE Tour where I had had a nasty crash during the race, though luckily I wasn't injured. I had been going well and was feeling fit, however after the crash I wasn't feeling 100% and didn't get the result I had hoped for. 

When I returned home and rested, I felt okay and realised I was still on good form. It's just that when you crash you aren't completely sure of yourself. 

A dusty recon around Siena

We travelled there the Wednesday before the race - one day earlier than - and we stayed in Siena, about 15 minutes from the start line. The race was on Saturday, and normally we would have arrived two days before the race, but this time we decided to travel earlier in order to feel more relaxed, and be able to do a good recon of the route on the Thursday. 

We were able to get up early each morning to do the recon ride, and that made it really helpful and pleasant doing it that way. 

We looked at the route starting from the long gravel section right up to the end, and did two loops so that we could get a good idea of the travelled sections. It's important to have seen how the ground is beforehand. Some years it can be more solid, but this year we saw that the gravel was very very dry and loose. Nevertheless, we were really looking forward to the race.

Strade Bianche is always a really nice race, and it's a nice atmosphere. The women's and men's team presentations taking place at the same time, and this way it looks very impressive with all the teams present. At the end of the day it's a lovely event that's been going on for a few years now - a mythic race held in a mythic town in Italy. So there's a bit more fanfare for this race in the beautiful town of Siena. 

Ride to survive 

I didn't do Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but I watched it, and between those two teams [FDJ-SUEZ and SD Worx-Protime] they thought it wasn't up to them to lead the chase after the breakaway, so in the end there was a bit of a standoff as they both adopted the tactics that would make them more competitive in the race.

But Strade Bianche was going to be totally different because from the fi4st moment it's a tough race that can eliminate many women, many teams and so the race has a different evolution,  given that it is more or less an elimination race. All that's left in the final are the stronger teams with more than one or two top riders that manage to hold on. If a team tries to play things like at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad they could end up being off the back, and a lonely race for them.

This race is very well-known for the difficulty and the challenge that goes with it, and the teams break up more so in this race than in others. There are lots more incidents along the road in this race than in most other races, and getting through Strade Bianche without any incident is quite rare!

As a team, we were looking forward to doing this race even though it is very technical because of the gravel and everything. The key is in making sure you are well-positioned when going into the sterrati.

I came second in Strade Bianche a few years ago, when I managed to get into a long breakaway. Every edition of the race has become increasingly difficult as the level raises. It's important to turn up with a strong team; this race tests your fitness at another level. 

In our team we had a more open plan because there were a few girls who were going well and of a similar level. So we wanted to try and make it an aggressive race, and have as many of our team as possible in the final. Then in the final we would see how we felt, and decide from there, depending on where we were with respect to the other riders.

Photo: LaPresse

How my race played out 

The race was tough especially because you could hardly see anything given that there was so much more dust coming up from the roads than ever before. 

So many things happened to so many riders during the race. I felt good, but I still had a few things happen. In our team we had punctures, I crashed twice, and used up a lot of energy getting back up to the group in front. 

My first crash was at the start on the first gravel sector, then further along in another section, I got caught up in another crash and had to chase back.

Later, I got a puncture on a long gravel sector [near Serravalle] but my team car was too far back to help me, and in the end I got a spare wheel from Shimano neutral service. Then that tyre punctured so I was back to waiting for my team car again. When I finally got a wheel change I was all alone and had to ride hard to get back to the front - which was pretty hard.

It was a bit crazy because at the same time, my team mates further ahead also needed assistance after she crashed and needed to change bike. 

Getting going was tough. I was quite far behind, but at one point the pace of the peloton dropped a bit as other girls also had various things happen to them - lots of punctures and other things meant that they ended up slowing down slightly, while at the same time I was at the very back busting a gut to get back on. Once I reached the convoy of team cats things were a bit easier. 

This year there was so much more dust than before. By the time we all finished the race our faces were completely white with the stuff. Even for the rest of the day and well into the evening my mouth was stinging and my skin was sore from the dust and sweat. 

During the race I tried to minimise the effects of the dust by drinking more water or trying to clean myself up, but there wasn't really much I could do. And of course with all the cars, there were moments when they threw up so much dust that I could barely see two metres ahead. That was probably another reason for so many crashes - people couldn't always see where they were going! By the end of the race I had breathed in so much dust; it was really unpleasant. But I guess it didn't do me any harm. In Strade Bianche it's best to be either at the front or off the back - so it helps to be in the breakaway. 

A few of us in the team attacked, and tried to stay in the breaks. I was the last one in the team to do an attack, and so I ended up ahead of my team-mates in the breakaway. I felt good and had good legs. When racing, I can tell fairly early on in the race if I'll have a good day or a bad day. And on this occasion it felt like things could go well for me. I was able to stay with the breaks, meaning I could push myself ahead - at least until Anna van der Breggen and Demi Vollering attacked.

Coming into the final, because I had been quite active in the front group, by the time we reached the final climb up Via Santa Caterina I wasn't entirely sure how my legs would react. In fact, physically I felt fine. So I was able to contest the final, and came fifth - which I was happy with. 

Mavi's verdict on Strade Bianche 

Strade Bianche is not my favourite race because it's less suited to my riding style. It's a very explosive race as the climbs are all very short. I've become accustomed to those sorts of climbs a little bit over the years, but I am more suited to races with long climbs and I do better in those races.

But Strade Bianche has been on the calendar for many years now, and I enjoy doing it.  In terms of the route, it was the same as last year except that the gravel sectors half-way through are more difficult. With each edition the level of racing increases, which also makes things harder, and I think this edition is harder than last year. This year I rode quicker than in other editions. 

The atmosphere in the team was pretty good, with Silke [Smulders] and Monica [Trinca Colonel] finishing well [10th and 11th] respectively. They both have a lot of potential and I have no doubt that they will be playing bigger roles in other races this year. 

In previous years I have been the sole leader, but I think that they will develop a lot, and I want to help them in their development so that they race well. They are hungry for success too, which is very important. 

This year there's a very good environment at Liv AlUla Jayco. As a team, including with the staff we are very mild-mannered, and as a rider you feel relaxed and not like you're under so much pressure. It's the ideal atmosphere in which to perform well.

We didn't really get to celebrate our results as we had to get back home that day. The nearest we got was to having a celebratory ice cream before I got my flight back to Mallorca. I returned home late on Saturday night, so left it to Sunday to celebrate by having a nice day out with my partner, who is also my coach.

Photo: Sprint Cycling/Greenedge 

What's next for Mavi

Strade Bianche was not a target race for me, as my aim is La Vuelta [a España], and the Tour [de France avec Zwift]. But this racewas more like a way to gauge where my fitness was. I had trained well over the winter, and could see that I had form when I raced in Mallorca, but things hadn't been straightforward because of the crash. But as we do more races I will get a better idea of my form. Based on Strade Bianche I think that I have good form so far, so I hope to have a good year. 

Alfredo Binda and Milan-Sanremo are big races I am looking forward to, but again, because they have short explosive hills they aren't suited to me, and therefore are not big objectives for me personally. However, as team, they are important races for us, so we will go in with a few cards to play.

We hope to do the recon of the Milan-Sanremo while we are up for Alfredo Binda, and we are really looking forward to this beautiful race. Everyone has been anticipating it with excitement, and I believe we can get a good result. 

Related post

Women's WorldTour Stories: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad by Alice Towers 

Women’s WorldTour Stories: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad by Alice Towers

It was slightly personal between SD Worx and FDJ: CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto racer Alice Towers recounts an extraordinary Omloop Het Nieuwsblad cycle race

The traditional professional cycle racing season opener began under sunny skies, with the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. This 138km long race from Gent to Ninove in Flanders, Belgium is a good test for professional cycle racers to test themselves out after their winter training and warm-weather training camps. It’s also a good chance to test out the bike handling skills on the numerous sections of cobbles, including the famous Kappelmuur at Geraadsbergen. This steep cobbled hill is generally a pivotal point in the race where a few people from the 143 starters will make their winning move – usually.

Alice Towers at the training camp (photo: Tino Pohlmann) 

This year’s race was a little different and played out in an unprecedented way, with a very unlikely but well-deserved winner.

Result:

1. Lotte Claes (Arkea B&B Hotels Women)

2. Aurela Nerlo (Windspace Orange Seal)

3. Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ)

4. Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) 

5. Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime)

33. Alice Towers (CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto)

Alice Towers, of Team Canyon// SRAM zondacrypto competed in the Omloop and was doing it for the fourth time. The 22-year old former British National Champion from Staffordshire recounts her experience: 

Restarting my season in Europe

I started my season in Australia in January with the Tour Down Under, which feels like a long time ago now. It was a solid start because you spend all winter working on your shape and so I was quite keen to make sure my fitness was confirmed in the race - and it was. So I was happy with how the race went. [Alice finished in 10th place] 

Then I had about four weeks in between my last race and Omloop. So during that time I went back to my home in Andorra where I had a couple of days off and did some easy rides. Then I went back to the UK and caught up with family and friends. After that I started building back up again and I had some quite hard training weeks in the couple of weeks prior to Omloop. 

So coming into Omloop I felt fresh, which was good. Last year in the lead in to Omloop I went into the race feeling a bit like fatigued, so it was nicer this year to feel a bit more fresh.

However, this year it felt like I was starting my season again, so I had those pre-season nerves again even though I’d already six of seven race days in my legs. Still, it was good to have started in Australia as it’s less hectic compared to the Classics, and it’s a nice way to start the season. 

Omloop starts at Barcelona airport

I flew from Barcelona to Brussels, from where it's quite easy to get to Gent. Because Barcelona airport is a local airport for cyclists in Andorra and Girona, where there are a lot of cyclists based in both places when you fly to a race from Barcelona there’s always a lot of either team-mates or competitors on your flight. So you already feel like you’re at the race when you get to the airport, and you see everyone there in their team clothes and eating pasta out of a tupperware box. 

On the flight there's kind of a chatty atmosphere. You chat to friends you know on other teams, but sometimes some people like to keep themselves to themselves and they just put their earphones in and watch Netflix - I guess they just want to be left alone. But you always have to make a bit of smalltalk with other riders or else it’s a bit awkward!

Pre-race build-up in Gent

We arrived in Gent on the Thursday evening and stayed in a hotel there where there were a few other teams staying. We were quite close to the course, so could easily go and do the course recon on Friday where we rode on some of the more important cobbled sectors of the race. It’s good to see those sections and how the cobbles feel and how the bike is in case you need to adjust anything like your tyre pressures and things like that – just to make sure you’re like fully tuned in.

Team CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto (photo:Thomas Maheux)

I rode for an hour and a half. Some of the girls rode for longer because they wanted to see the Muur. I didn’t ride up the Muur as I've done ridden up it enough times to know what it feels like, but I did go to some of the other climbs and I thought that was enough for that day. I wanted to save a bit of energy for the next day.

Race Day

There was a nice atmosphere before the race. Omloop always starts in this warehouse car park thing and they drive all the team buses in and then they have a full team presentation on a stage with lights and stuff. 

With my team mates we were all talking before the race and and Tiff [Cromwell] and Kasia [Nieuwiadoma] were trying to count how many times they’ve done Omloop. Tiff’s done it 13 times, and she won it in 2013. Kasia has done it 10 or something. So I was feeling a little I had weak numbers with my four starts! 

But there was a bit of a mix as a couple of the other girls had only done it a couple of times. 

The course is always the same, so it’s almost like you don’t even need to do the recon as you already know where the important points are and what to expect. But because it's always the first WorldTour race of the season everyone has got that extra bit of anticipation and they're not sure about how things are going to go.

Team tactics

In the race the selection is often made on the Muur, so Kasia is definitely our card to play for then, and she was kind of protected and saving herself for then. But we had a couple of faster girls as well like Chiara [Consonni] and Maike [Van der Duin] who we were gonna save and let them follow in case it came down to some sort of a sprint because there was quite a strong headwind on the run in, and it’s almost like one straight road which favours chasers so. You always like to have a couple of different options for how the race is going to go.

My role was to cover attacks or create moves coming into the final part of the race and keep the pressure on before going into the Muur, and looking for opportunities. 

How the race played out

During the race there wasn’t a lot of information that got given to the peloton in terms of how big the gap was to the breakaway. And then there was one point when one rider from UAE came to me and asked us if we were going to chase - at a point where no one was chasing. And I didn’t even know at that time how big the time gap was, so when I asked her and she said 12 minutes or something, I was like what?? 

So I didn’t even hear that from our team radio or from the commissaires. I heard that from another rider, so the information being given to the peloton was a bit vague. We didn’t have any sprinter that was the favourite; Kasia wasn’t the favourite on the climb either. So we weren’t going to be the first ones to chase. We definitely would have contributed if other teams had got something going, but it was a bit awkward, and then everyone was just waiting for each other.

It wasn’t a great situation for the peloton. I did try and attack a couple of times when the gap was 8 minutes, but it was kind of futile because of the gap to the break. I felt a bit silly when I was doing it. Sometimes you’ve got to do it, you never know. 

It did end up coming back to a bit of a bunch kick aside from the couple of girls that were ahead. Maike finished in 11th place but it wasn’t really the plan. We were supposed to sprint with Chiara and then Maike found herself in the front group and we didn’t have anything left to go for. So I think Maike did a good job of getting what she could from that group. But the team weren’t buzzing from the result. We did what we could with what was left.

It was a great day for the breakaway, and I was quite happy for the girl that won [Lotte Claes] because she’s Belgian and I think she’s been around for quite a while. So it was an amazing day for her. 

Alice's verdict

Everyone was playing the card of not chasing the break, and our team was also guilty of doing that. We were saying it’s not on us, and everyone was saying that. And really, it’s on someone. It’s on all of us. It’s just politics. And I think the tactics extended beyond the book - it didn't make sense. I think it was slightly personal between SD Worx and FDJ and there was an element of someone having something to prove to someone else, and I think that’s what happened.

I think that the racing is more wide open because the really fast riders are spread across more teams than before. So it’s going to be a lot more interesting for us and also for people watching as well. Though I think that Saturday [the day of the Omloop race] is not going to be the last time something like that is going to happen. I think that there are going to be some stand-offs in the Classics department!

Maybe there'll be other surprise winners, but it’s a shame because when we [our team] have a favourite, we’ll take the honest option and take to the front and ride for that rider who we want to do the result for, and I think it’s a shame that people try and bluff it and I know it’s part of the game, but it makes it quite a frustrating race for people who just want to keep the racing honest. You just want to do your job and then there’s all sorts of people trying to bluff and stuff.

An honest race at Hageland

The next day I raced at the Omloop Van Het Hageland, which was different from Omloop. That was super-hectic on all these small roads through towns and they were twisty and turny with some cobbled sectors. It was more to script, though there were a lot more smaller teams and it was a lot less predictable. It was quite a difficult race to be honest, and quite dangerous as well, because the level was a bit lower than at Omloop which had all the WorldTour teams. We had three girls in the front, then two, then there was just Maika left. And she also did a good job of representing us at the front and came 6th.

(Photo: Tino Pohlmann)

What’s next for Alice

I was happy with my shape, and I was really happy with the sensations. I think it’s about getting used to the dynamics of the Classics again because positioning is the most important thing. To ride in the front of the peloton is the most important thing, so I’ve definitely got some stuff to work on there. But I’ve got some nice hard racing coming up which will a bit more selective, so I’m looking forward to that. My brother races as well. He is based in Denia and races for Caja Rural development team. So we definitely talk about what we're up to and share our wisdoms. Though I think I give him more advice though!  

I’m off again to Strade Bianche next. I'm looking forward to it. It's always a good race to watch, and it's always a hard race. So it should be good.

A Brutalist ride around South London

 A bike ride in celebration of Brutalist architecture 

I have been wanting to watch The Brutalist. Given all the praise it's been receiving across the media, and my slight penchant for this type of architecture I think it's worth watching. I had thought of going to watch it on my birthday a few days ago. But in the end, I worked out that it's 3hrs 35 minutes and 15-minute duration, plus travelling time to get to and from the cinema would mean I'd spend a large chunk of my day in a darkened room. 

That's understandable if you have a a migraine or are an old-skool photographer. I don't fall into either of those categories, and preferred to spend my celebratory day doing a selection of activities in daylight - albeit slightly grey daylight given the dreich weather.

Crystal Palace Sports Centre (designed by Leslie Martin and Norman Engleback, 1957)

However, by way of commemorating this type of chunky architecture which became all the rage between the 1950s and 1980s, I decided to do a Brutalist architecture themed bike ride in my South London neighbourhood.

There are lots of well-known Brutalist buildings in London with iconic status - a number of them are even Grade II listed: The Barbican Centre, National Theatre, Centrepoint, Trellick Tower, Brunswick Shopping Centre.

I do plan on riding a circuit to take in these famous buildings. On this day though, I chose to stay local and went around Beckenham, Penge, Crystal Palace, Dulwich, Herne Hill. Interestingly, I didn't think I would find much in these places as they are largely aesthetically pleasant neighbourhoods with much older and stylish looking public buildings.

But in fact you're never far from Brutalism - weather you like it or not, it's all around - be it a block of flats, a sports centre, library, hospital, or even a work of “art”.

Brutalist buildings I saw on my bike ride:

Brandon House and Porchester Mead housing blocks, Beckenham Hill 

Queen Adelaide Court, Penge (designed by Edward Armstrong, 1951)

Dawson's Heights, Dulwich (designed by Kate Macintosh, 1964)

Blanchedowne, Denmark Hill Estate (Camberwell Borough architects, 1946)

Loughborough Junction industrial zone and Higg's Yard seen from Ruskin Park 

Hurst Street Estate tower blocks, Herne Hill (Lambeth Council architects, 1968)

Monolithic seating area, "Stonepenge" in Crystal Palace park alongside statue of Joseph Paxton, architect of the original Crystal Palace 

Crystal Palace Athletics Stadium Jubilee Stand, 1977

Brutalist architecture definitely gives a “Marmite” reaction - people either love it, though more often, loathe it. I must say I belong to the former category, and harbour the feelings of awe when I first saw such buildings as an eight or ten-year old. It made me feel inspired to be associated with such structures. As a child of the 70s these buildings provided very useful facilities for the people at a time when housing and leisure facilities were not easily available.

My ride lasted longer than anticipated, as I stopped many times to take photos. In the end I was out for just under three hours - not quite as long as The Brutalist, but still long enough!

Related posts

Back to Barcelona for more cycling 

Lockdown London brings out large numbers of cyclists 

Cycle route: South London to Westminster and Chelsea 

Carbon monoxide in cycling: what's it all about?

World cycling governing body is expected to ban the use of carbon monoxide rebreather devices 

Photo: Detalo Health 

Since the story first emerged after last year's Tour de France that top teams use carbon monoxide (CO) to test athlete's fitness, the rumour mill hasn't stopped. 

Remember Tadej Pogačar won the Tour de France by over six minutes - an impressive margin over his nearest rival, Jonas Vingegaard. The way he trounced his rivals in the mountains around the Côte d'Azur in the closing stages of the race he looked like he was certainly rocket fuel.

When asked about using CO after stage 16 of the Tour, in Nimes, he brushed off the question and didn't know what the reporter was talking about. He later clarified his answer, saying he'd thought he was being asked about inhaling exhaust fumes, and explained that the rebreather was a simple test he uses to see how well he responds to altitude training. 

Visma-Lease a Bike, the team of second-placed rider Jonas Vingegaard, himself a two-time Tour de France winner, also confirmed that they include CO rebreather, as have Israel-Premier Tech, the team of Chris Froome and Derek Gee. All teams maintain that their use of the rebreather is for testing purposes only and not specifically to enhance performance. 

Such is the talk about its use that Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), cycling's world governing body are due to make a decision on its use, and will call on the World Antidoping Agency (WADA) to ban the use of carbon monoxide rebreather devices. 

But what is the deal with carbon monoxide? Is there really an issue with its use, or is this just a bit of hot air?

Well, to start with, CO can kill you. The red blood cells in your body contain haemoglobin, a protein that binds to oxygen (O2) as you breathe in, and carries it around the body. CO molecules have a similar structure to O2 molecules, and haemoglobin combines with CO over 200 times more easily than with O2, so is difficult (though still possible) for the link to be broken to allow in O2.

In everyday life we breath in tiny amounts of the colourless and odourless CO gas from things like motor vehicle exhaust fumes, cigarettes, and barbecues. These amounts can be displaced from the body over a few hours as you breathe in more O2 and CO breaks down naturally. 

But low amounts, for example from an old or faulty gas fire over time can still cause symptoms. You may begin to feel sick, have headaches feel weak. and get dizzy. Continuous exposure to CO will leave you out of breath. In the absence of urgent medical attention this leads to asphyxiation (oxygen starvation), resulting in multiple organ failure and death. 

Remember, most people who sadly die in house fires succumb to CO poisoning from smoke inhalation rather than burns. As CO is a slightly lighter gas than O2 the advice is to crouch down to the ground where the air is cleaner, if you are caught in the smoke from a fire.

So why would an athlete tamper with a potentially lethal substance? I've no more an idea than anyone else! I guess it's for the reason why folks inject synthetic erythropoietin (EPO), a blood-boosting hormone in which the difference between benefiting or severely harming a person is very small. 

The use of CO as a way to measure haemoglobin in the blood using a rebreather (O2 and CO circuit) was first published around 20 years ago. It is generally used while training at altitude - at the start of the training camp and at the end of the stay, to see how well their body responded to training. So why the fuss now? 

Photo: Detalo Health 

Well, when CO is inhaled, the slightly reduced supply of oxygen leads the body to react by producing more red blood cells to compensate - which is what happens when at altitude. 

So in a way the rebreather method could be expanded, not just as a device for measuring haemoglobin levels at the start and end of an altitude training camp, but it could also help promote the production of more haemoglobin. (Though manufacturers of rebreather devices don't endorse this type of use.)

And, given cycling's history, I guess the doping rumour mill turns ever faster when a rider is more than head and shoulders above all the other competitors, as we saw in this masterclass of Pogi Power at last year's Tour de France. 

Results from a recently study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology (T. Urianstad, et al. 2024) suggest that the regular inhalation of a small quantity of CO when at altitude could lead to an increase in a person's VO2 max (a measure of aerobic capacity), and power out put at lactate threshold (the moment when high intensity effort leads to lactic acid build up in muscles) compared with when training at sea level.

In the study published last year, 31 elite male cycle racers were divided into three groups and their training data were collected over three weeks: two groups lived and trained at 2,100m altitude, with one of these groups receiving CO twice a day, while the third group lived and trained at sea level. 

At the end of the the three weeks the athletes who trained at altitude and inhaled CO had a higher VO2 max and 1-minute power output at lactate threshold than those who stayed at sea level. Between the two groups at altitude, the athletes who received CO had an increased amount of haemoglobin in their blood, but there wasn't a statistically significant difference in athletic performances between the athletes. 

These results are similar to those from other previously published studies with CO. So at the moment, the jury is out as to whether actual performance improves, given that the increased haemoglobin doesn't translate to real-world performance advantages. But then again, there could still be a case for using CO based on the haemoglobin results. 

However, this could be seen as a legalised way of blood doping, and because of the way an athlete's haemoglobin can be increased, it can also mask classic illegal blood doping with EPO.

A word also needs to be mentioned too about the long-term effects of regular inhalation of CO. The long-term consequences of CO inhalation have not yet been established. There is a theory that CO could have anti-inflammatory effects and protect against certain health conditions, but at present none of the medical regulatory authorities have approved the use of CO for medical purposes, especially as continued regular use could lead to health complications in the future. 

The opinion of some clinicians in the sports medicine community is that CO rebreathers shouldn't be used at all. 

From an ethical standpoint there is a danger that amateur athletes may try to copy their professional counterparts, without medical supervision or support, leading to catastrophic consequences. 

The professional cycling anti-doping campaign group, Movement for a Credible Cycling (MPCC) have spoken out against the use of CO rebreathers. Board member of MPCC, and general manager of Equipe Groupama-FDJ, the outspoken Marc Madiot, has said he would never have any of his team riders use the device, even if all the other World Tour teams were using it. Speaking in a recent interview with Le Monde newspaper he said, “I'm sorry, but you don't make cyclists breathe gas. It's nonsense. No and no, that's it!”

We await the statement from the UCI later this week.

Related posts

Why go to Mallorca when there's Manchester 

Box Hill is my best fitness test

World Short-Track Mountain bike championships in Glasgow (and Glentress)