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Ever wondered what life must be like on a pro training camp. Well, with this latest press release from the Giant T-Mobile, you can get a taste of what goes on.
A large proportion of T-Mobile’s new recruits and old hands joined forces in a week-long training camp in the Canary Islands, Spain in late November.
“It was a very successful meeting.” team sports director Brian Holm told Giant’s website, “a great opportunity for everybody to build on the first team get-together we’d had in late October and one where you could see the riders are slowly but steadily building up their form for the new season.”
Holm reported that all 15 riders present at the camp also received a new Giant bike for racing, testing and training.
Giant personnel were present throughout the week to co-ordinate vital technical back-up and consultation sessions with and for the riders and management, both on and off the bike.
Most training sessions were between four to five hours, with riders doing some specific workloads like interval work. The T-Mobile pros were split into two groups, partly to avoid causing traffic problems, and partly so one part could already begin their build-up for the early season and Classics, the rest for the Tour.
“Each rider is discussing their work program with the team doctors, trainer and management. We’re responding to individual needs.” Holm commented. “Broadly speaking, most of the older guys here in T-Mobile will be focussing on the Classics, whilst it tends to be a younger group that will be looking at the major Tours.”
“There’s barely a metre of flat on the islands here so it’s quite intense training in any case. With the wind and sun, it makes for quite hot work, too!”
The team will next get together for the Mallorca training camp in southern Spain from January 8th to 18th 2007. The team presentation is on January 13th.
There was also time at the training camp for some relaxation and recuperation – many of the pros took advantage of the good weather to do some other sports, such as tennis and surfing, and on one day the riders and management took part in a friendly soccer match.
The management lost 13-12, but as Holm pointed out, “we didn’t want to wreck their morale so early in the season. Next time it’ll be a different story!”
