Winter training tips for cyclists, by team Bbox coach Marion Clignet

The first-ever female coach of a professional Tour de France cycling team, Marion Clignet, says "TrainingPeaks is my saving grace" as she coaches her team to the 2011 Tour. Marion is doing her own mini Tour de France this fall, checking in with all her riders from Team Bouygues Telecom to make sure their off-season winter training is on track. Read on to find out how she’s keeping her team in shape over the holidays, including core strength, stability, running, swimming, and even skiing, and check out Marion’s blog on Velonation to keep up with the team’s progress! Also, sign up for a TrainingPeaks account and a winter training plan to keep your own training on track this holiday season!

Hello from France

Hey there from Toulouse in the southwest of France, where much to my dismay it is pouring and has rained all week! I’m just back from a mini Tour de France that I took to visit several of my riders.  A lot of my boys raced fairly late into October though I do have 2 other groups that finished earlier. Some of the early finishers are racing ‘cross full on while others are training and racing ‘cross just to change a tad from the road.

While visiting with the boys most of what I’m doing is getting them on a solid strength and in particular core strength and stability program with free weights, stability balls and medicine balls. I’m not a machine fan as in cycling we don’t work in the same axis as machines and they don’t allow you to really work on your stability.

Other activities I have them do depending on their skills and weak points are running, (preferably on soft terrain like woods and mountain trails), stairs for some, swimming, cross country skiing, and mountain biking.

As the off season continues and we increase cardio work I’ll also change their lifting cycles including a strength cycle with more weights and fewer reps, always finishing with a fixed gear spin on the trainer, perhaps alternating the trainer and heavy lifts  for those who tend to bulk up when they lift. The last weight cycle before the season really starts is a lift-cardio circuit getting them ready for what’s about to happen.

I started working with the team in November 2008 and for my first year the mission has been to get everyone on the same logistical platform. TrainingPeaks is my saving grâce communication-wise as not everyone has an SRM or a PowerTap but they can still just fill in the blanks which allows me to plan more efficiently.

Our star riders are Fedrigo and Voeckler, both stage winners in the tour this year, as well as William Bonnet and Yuri Troffimov. Up and coming stars are Pierre Rolland, Sebastien Turgot, Cyril Gauthier, and Damien Gaudin, names you’ll be seeing soon enough. We have 3 new additions to the team this year with Vogondy, Chartreux, and Bichot.

As the early off season really is a time to unwind everyone is just off a 2 week break, or if they rode later they are getting ready to take a break now. At this point it’s all about clearing your head and getting your motivation stock ready for action as well as not unwinding completely on cookies, beer, and chips. All of this is just to say that one of the most important times to be careful is during the off season.

Our first camp is November 23 and since we are on new bikes this season – Colnago - we’ll be spending a lot of time on bike fitting, discussions with sponsors on bettering certain products from gels to tires, endurance training, and getting to know the new kids on our block.

Happy training to all !

Cheers

Marion