World-renowned as one of the best women's cyclists of all time, when Annemiek van Vleuten speaks, people listen and now she has a warning for the future of the sport, saying "I think the idea of robotic cycling is dangerous."
As mentioned, van Vleuten is one of the sports global superstars. Her fear is that the way modern cycling is becoming more and more data-driven, potential superstars of tomorrow could be put off pursuing a career in the sport. "You have athletes who train very extremely. They often keep that up for a year or two and then they burn out. I look at it with sorrow."
With power meters becoming one of the most important parts of any cyclist's gear in recent years, every stroke of the medal from a rider is measured to the finest detail and van Vleuten is not the first big name no come out and question whether or not this is the right way to go.
Serge Pauwels recently described the modern, data-driven culture as "a knife that cuts both ways." Pauwels made these comments in response to promising youngster Xandres Vervloesem announced his retirement, citing a loss of love for the sport due to the fact that "data suddenly determined my life and that was a bitter blow to me.”
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