Alex Dowsett has reached the “heights” that many riders dream of. He has had a 13-year professional cycling career, winning two Giro d’Italia stage victories and six British time trial championships. After fulfilling his professional goals, Dowsett retired from the pro peloton last autumn. Since then, he has turned his attention to skiing and running, preparing for the London Marathon in 2023. Recently, the 34-year-old former pro rider is about to return to cycling and plans to participate in some time trials and gravel road races.
Recently, foreign media got two hours of valuable training time with Dowsett. Dowsett shared his experience of “fighting” on the track for more than ten years with his unique straightforwardness and humor, and talked about how to improve training effectiveness and physical fitness.
Inspiration for cycling originated from family influence
My dad (Phil Dowsett) was also a rider. His trophies used to fill the cabinets in our house. When I was a kid, he would tell me all his race stories. Under his influence, he has been my role model since I was little. I did a lot of things by imitating him. He has had a huge impact on my professional career.
Constantly absorb new knowledge
I often change my coaches and believe that doing so is beneficial. Many coaches will repeatedly develop the same training plans for you based on their own fields, and you will be stuck in the “cocoon effect” for a long time, only mastering certain skills. But if you frequently change coaches, it means you will constantly receive new content, new things and new methods, which will bring greater gains and breakthroughs.
Choose the right section to master riding rhythm
I know some Spanish riders from Gerona who often go to climb the 9.9km long hill in the Sierra de Collserola to challenge themselves and find the sections they are good at. But I’m not very good at climbing, so I went to test rides in Britain’s Essex Maldon 10 district. Soon I realized that I was a pretty good time trialist. When riding this section, I controlled my riding rhythm very well and knew how to allocate my energy reasonably.
Therefore, choosing a riding section that suits you may be “twice the result with half the effort” and even inspire your riding potential.
Push hard at critical moments
Based on the overall situation on the day of the race, my average power output in time trials is between 400 and 435 watts. I pay more attention to riding rhythm and peak power changes. Simply put, push hard on the sections that require effort and save energy on the sections that should not rush.
Why do the behind-the-scenes teams that develop riding rhythms and tactics for teams often make mistakes? It is because they rely too much on computer modeling and ignore the subtle differences between computer modeling and actual riding.
At the 2019 World Championships in Harrogate, I defeated the computer modeling of the British cycling team because I did not ride downhill with an output of 250 watts as calculated in the modeling. In fact, my output when riding downhill was 0 watts.
Think rationally, don’t be swayed by brute force
I did not really realize how effective the Moulton 10 district riding training was until the TT race at the 2015 Bayern Rundfahrt (German station). A young rider (then my Movistar teammate) wanted to compete with me “amicably”. During the race, with an average power output of 395 watts and weighing 79 kg, I defeated him with a lead of 1 minute and 53 seconds, weighing 70 kg and an average power output of 400 watts.
After the race, I asked him how he allocated his energy in the first kilometer after the start. “After starting, I started accelerating, shifting up a few gears, and the output power reached over a thousand watts,” the rider said.
I said that during the whole race, my power output never exceeded 600 watts. After entering the aerodynamic riding posture, I started to steadily increase the speed. One kilometer later, although the power output was 400 watts lower than his, the speed was already 10 seconds faster.
I asked him again, what was his condition on downhill and uphill sections? He said: “On downhill and uphill sections, my power output was stable at 400 watts, and the speed on downhill was 60 kilometers per hour.”
I told him that when I reached the top of the hill and started downhill, I started accelerating madly and then rode downhill in a tops tube position (which was legal at the time), although the power output was 0 watts, the speed reached 70 kilometers per hour. On the downhill section, I saved a full 400 watts of power compared to him.
When starting uphill, because I had rested long enough on the downhill, my power output uphill reached 500 watts, and my climbing speed was 20 kilometers per hour faster than his. Hearing this, he was shocked.
So maintaining a stable riding rhythm is very important. Do not be disturbed by any influence or let brute force defeat your rationality.
Insist on daily training
If I want to be “lazy” for a day and have no motivation to continue training, I will think that if the training “stalls” for a day, then the subsequent arrangements will be delayed, the nutrition plan, training plan, and rest days will all be disrupted, which feels very bad. So stick to daily training persistently!
Training requires effort but don’t get hurt!
For me, the most effective training courses may feel like a “waste of time” at the beginning. First, spend two and a half hours stimulating muscle nerves, and the training stress score cannot exceed 55 points. It involves six-second sprints, each of which must be maintained at a high pedaling frequency in a high gear. There is an eight-minute rest interval between each training, and the coach wants you to rest completely, such as sitting directly on the floor.
Throughout the winter, I will do such training once a week, but it doesn’t feel very useful. However, in the subsequent Australian International Cycling Race, I found that my body had made amazing progress. I even felt that no rider could do better than me at the start. Previously, starting acceleration had always been my weakness and had been a long-term “bottleneck” that could not be broken through. So training content that feels too easy or ineffective can actually be very effective.
Defeat those who doubt you with your strength
Throughout my professional career, I have gained a lot of motivation for racing, some of which were not positive. Two months before the U23 European TT Championships in 2010, I fractured my scapula. I remember a nurse saying some very “childish” words to me. She said I was not worthy of being European, let alone representing Europe in the competition.
When I was on the podium to win the European champion, I was proud to prove with my strength that the nurse was wrong! She is now my driver.
Do not let any little thing block your victory
At the 2019 UCI Road World Championships in Harrogate, I finished fifth in the TT race and 7 seconds from the podium in the one-hour race.
Looking back now, if I had used Continental tires instead of Vittoria tires, or used Shimano Di2 instead of SRAM, I might have come in second. I don’t like the feeling of “being wise after the event”, so I decided not to make mistakes on these details in future races, do everything I can, and try to get closer to the podium. Spend money to upgrade equipment if it can make me faster!
Don’t be too tired, relax
In 2018, the team manager told me that I would go to China to participate in the Tour of Guangxi in October. Previously, I had been racing all year and was very tired.
On the way to China, my teammate Marco Haller and I both got drunk. When we arrived in Guangxi, I wanted to work hard in the pre-race preparations, and as a result, I rode the best personal record in five minutes of full effort riding.
In the race, I rode another personal best of 30 seconds. At that time, I felt in great shape, which was also the peak of my professional career. A year later, in addition to tense races, I also participated in the Tour de France. To be honest, I really felt too tired.
After the world tour season, I didn’t touch my bike for a whole week. Later I went to the Netherlands to visit the European TT champion’s training plan. I rode for 26 minutes at an average power output of 455 watts, feeling more tired than any of my previous rides. I realized that my body could no longer handle it, and a good rest was the most important thing.
My experience may inspire more people
Because I have hemophilia (an inherited bleeding disorder), the medication volatilizes quite quickly when I ride my bike. Its only impact on me is that I have to inject myself with medication every other day. As a hemophiliac, I feel very lucky to be a professional rider and compete alongside the world’s top cyclists.
There should be no other rider with such an “annoying” disease. When I successfully completed various races and reached the finish line, I believe it was also a great encouragement for many
hemophiliacs and patients with genetic diseases.
Don’t be too arrogant
After winning the eighth stage of the Giro d’Italia in 2013, I became arrogant and complacent. At the time, I was thinking, “That’s it, I’m one of the best riders!” But the fact is that I am not a top time trialist, nor am I some “chosen one”. I was just one of many excellent time trial riders at the time.
When Dan Biggham and John Archibald began to beat me in races, I found that they rode faster and more efficiently than me. After that, I became more open-minded again, understanding the truth that “there are people outside, and there are days outside”.
Do not abuse drugs
As early as 2014, I said that the abuse of drugs in the cycling circle at that time was very serious, especially painkillers and sleeping pills, but drug abuse has obviously improved in the past ten years, and the abuse of sleeping pills is much less. However, after crossing the finish line, some riders still take caffeine, acetaminophen and other drugs.
Let your body guide you
Disease is a “serious warning” from your body, reminding you that you need to rest forcibly. During the illness, you will feel that the world is about to collapse, and you feel that your body will never recover to its previous state, and it will be easier to get sick in the future, and so on…
But in fact, it’s not. Your body will guide you forward, and the future is not dark. When I was sick before, I didn’t go to participate in the 2014 Tour de France. But a few weeks later, I won the gold medal in the time trial at the Commonwealth Games.
Brief introduction to Alex Dowsett’s professional career
Dowsett was born in 1988. As a child, he was a competitive swimmer. Later, he rode bicycles with his father Phil and gradually discovered his talent for cycling. In 2011, Dowsett joined Team Sky as a professional rider. The following are his main achievements:
Giro d’Italia (2020), Stage 1 Champion
Road World Championships (2019), TT Time Trial Champion
Holder of the World Hour Record: 52.937 km (2015)
Commonwealth Games (2014), TT Time Trial Champion
Giro d’Italia (2013), Stage 8 Champion
Six-time British TT National Time Trial Champion
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Post time: Jul-10-2023