"Believe it or not, I've been out training in temperatures as low as 10 degrees below zero" - EF Education-EasyPost rider reveals extreme winter training
Cycling
Cycling is often associated with warm summer rides, offering the perfect way to explore breathtaking landscapes and enjoy the beauty of mother nature. While that works well for casual riders, professional cyclists must endure extreme conditions year-round, including the bitter cold of winter. Better them than me!
Marca spent a day with EF Education-EasyPost’s Harry Sweeny to see how he trains in freezing conditions at nearly 2,000 metres above sea level. In Andorra, where he is based, temperatures can plummet to -10°C, making training sessions a true test of endurance. "Believe it or not, I've been out training in temperatures as low as 10 degrees below zero," says Sweeny.
The 26-year-old Australian has competed in both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana during his career. His day starts with a cappuccino and a 200g serving of oats, fuelling him for the grueling hours ahead. Before heading out, he puts on an SPO2 monitor to track his blood oxygen levels, cross-referencing the data with his weight to ensure his body is recovering properly without excessive weight loss.
Dressing appropriately is essential to surviving the harsh conditions. Sweeny layers up with thermal jerseys, shorts, and jackets, but his most innovative addition is a buff folded in a way that completely covers his face, leaving no skin exposed.
He doubles up on socks for extra foot protection and wears insulated gloves to shield his hands from the cold. Thanks to this, his outfit might resemble ski gear more than cycling attire, but it’s necessary for the freezing temperatures he has to ride through.
Training rides can last up to six hours, requiring a steady intake of 90g of carbohydrates per hour through energy gels and drinks to sustain his effort, and during one ride, he covered 60km while averaging an impressive 320 watts.
Sweeny’s commitment to performance extends beyond his outdoor rides. At home, he takes things to another level with an altitude tent provided by his team. This specialised tent replicates the conditions of high-altitude training, mimicking the effects of a hypoxia chamber to enhance his endurance.
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- Hopefully the women won’t be requesting equal prize money as for the men’s race. Even an average week long men’s race is harder than this travesty.
UltimateOpportunist15-04-2025 - So is Pogacar, whose rivals are van der Poel in the monuments and Vingegaard at the Tour, doing the same with his limited calendar of race days?RidesHills15-04-2025
- An interesting description, but I think it misses his motivations. He meets a goal and moves on. Van der Poel does race the Tour, though lately as lead out for Philipsen, after achieving the goal of wearing yellow one day. Same with the Giro, he met his goal and moved on. But yes, lately that sure looks like winning the monuments more than anything else.RidesHills15-04-2025
- Totally agree, if only for the reason that it sends the totally wrong message not to treat it that way, let’s get drunk then we can do stupid things without much punishment, and the drunker the safer. In fact, if alcohol is accepted as a reason for turning to bad behaviour, perhaps representatives of the industry should systematically also be punished financially when there are convictions.Mistermaumau15-04-2025
- I mean the year before cables were external aspect should help narrow down the options as that can only be 1 year if you look at every bike it's the year cables disappeared.HoopoeChai15-04-2025
- If other riders just give up when VDP and Pog turn up to race why bother at all. Sad to hear this attitude and there is the problem riders saying we have lost before the start . We have seen loads of time both riders can be beaten. Less neg and more positive.paultryan200215-04-2025
- I always thought the very best in a sport drove each other and their closest rivals to be better, Tadej and MVDP are driving each other to be better does that mean the rest have given up? To hear many of the pundits you'd think that was the case, they need to drag themselves up to the level to beat MVDP and Tadej because the two of them are not going to waitslappers6615-04-2025
- Must feel like a dream when he's back riding the smooth roads hahaPogboom15-04-2025
- Covid racing was great! You could actually hear the cyclist suffering.
Front24215-04-2025 - I'm pretty sure that it was 2011, when he as on the Saxo Bank team, and the bikes in question are the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL3 and SL4.
santiagobenites15-04-2025