Victor Campenaerts hoping for improvement after changes in training: "The riders who win the most races nowadays, such as Pogacar and Vingegaard, have the best developed mitochondria"
CyclingWednesday, 24 January 2024 at 12:24
Victor Campenaerts has been in the pro peloton for quite a few years, and transformed himself from a time-trialist to a world-class rouleur quite successfully. At 32, he is still looking to improve as a cyclist and is completely focused in that mission.
“I have already trained 37 hours and 24 minutes more than last year during this period," the Belgian told Wielerflits. He's moved to Spain this winter, as have several other big riders in recent years over the winter, and is feeling the difference after a couple months of work. "At this point in the preparation I had already gotten sick about three times. Not once now, I haven't even had to skip a workout. This will largely be due to the weather.”
The Lotto Dstny rider has talked about how he's considering returning to a big focus against the clock, but his aggressive style of racing earned him some results last year. He won the Druivenkoers-Overijse, but also climbed onto the podium in Paris as the race's most aggressive rider. “I cannot prove with results that this new approach works. There is a big difference between five hours of training uphill in Spain or five hours in the rain in Belgium."
"Here I get closer to the aerobic threshold. It is claimed that this is a more efficient training. If you ride close to that zone more often, it stimulates the production of mitochondria," he explains. Hence, he believes that his changes throughout the winter may lead to a boost for the upcoming year, "And the riders who win the most races nowadays, such as Pogacar and Vingegaard, have the best developed mitochondria. In that respect, this should lead to top results.”
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Had to look up Mitochondria.
Quote; "Exercise requires a great deal of energy to power our muscles. That puts a burden on muscle mitochondria, which signal that energetic demand to the rest of the cell.
Muscle cells respond by producing more mitochondria and more mitochondrial enzymes. This increases the respiratory capacity of muscles, i.e., their ability to produce ATP from nutrients to power muscle contraction.
It is an adaptation of our muscle cells to exercise and one of the reasons why exercise performance improves with training. Exercise is also one of the best ways to improve mitochondrial biogenesis and function in aging muscle, helping delay the age-related decline in mitochondrial activity and muscle health."
Looks good go for it Victor!