UAE Team Emirates training "not easy mentally" according to Pavel Sivakov: "I don’t think it wouldn’t suit all riders"

There has been much discussion lately about the brutal training methods of the UAE Team Emirates - XRG team. One man who had a rude introduction to the methods of the peloton's leading team in 2024, was talented French climber Pavel Sivakov.

“I train harder now, but not in the way of higher intensity, I train a lot in the famous ‘zone two’ that is known in all endurance sport," Sivakov explains to his former INEOS Grenadiers' teammate Geraint Thomas on the Welsh former Tour de France winner's GTCC podcast. “The big difference is that I don’t ride easy anymore, like below 200 watts. It’s always constant pressure on the pedals.”

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It seems this training method is working too after Sivakov impressed throughout the 2024 season for UAE, showcasing himself as one Tadej Pogacar's most important domestiques. “I do less hours, but it feels like I do … not ‘junk miles’ … but every time I go out for three hours, it’s three hours of ‘working,’” Sivakov adds. “It’s not easy mentally. I don’t think it wouldn’t suit all riders, but for me, it’s been good. It’s hard for me now to train with other guys because I never go easy. I always have to press on.”

Sivakov isn't the only UAE rider to note that he now struggles for training partners. New signing Rune Herregodts also commented on the fact previously. Even at UAE camps, riders end up alone according to Sivakov. “[On camp] in Sierra Nevada before the Tour de France, we would leave together, but we would separate and do our own training, because everyone has a different zone and everyone weighs a different weight,” he explains. “It’s a bit of a different approach. And that’s what was definitely a big change for me this year.”

“I can see the whole zone two thing cracking a few people sometimes. I wouldn’t mind training like that, but not all the time. For me, I need to have a few rides where you just go out and go wherever and just have a social ride," adds Thomas. “Whether people will be able to continue that for 10 or 12 years will be interesting. It can be quite boring, but again, it’s all on the characteristics of the guy. But it certainly works.”

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Pavel Sivakov on helping Tadej Pogacar to Tour de France victory: "The whole team trusted him. There wasn't a single moment of doubt"

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