Warming down
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British crit champion Eileen Roe won the Matrix Fitness GP Series in 2014 and now races for Wiggle-Honda (pic: The Tour)
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Roe recommend working on your lactate threshold in training and is an advocate of '20-40' intervals (pic: Wiggle-Honda)
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Roe hits the rollers hard before every criterium in order to get up to race speed
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Roe races with one bidon on her bike but the fast-paced nature of criterium racing means it's vitally important to be well-fuelled and hydrated on the start line (pic: The Tour)
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Roe recons the course at least twice pre-race (pic: The Tour)
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Roe rides on Katie Archibald's wheel at the front of the Women's Tour de Yorkshire. She learned from a young age how to ignite races (pic: Allen McKenzie/SWpix.com)
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Slow into the corner, and aim for the apex, so you can accelerate out if it (pic: The Tour)
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Roe celebrates another Matrix Fitness GP Series win (pic: Tour Series)
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Roe shares a joke with Katie Curtis after the Women's Tour de Yorkshire in York (pic: Allen McKenzie/SWpix.com)
Warming down
Win or lose, your work doesn’t end the moment you cross the finish line, with the intensity of racing making a warm down the best way to kick start your recovery.
And that doesn’t just mean a quick ride or session on the rollers, with many riders, Roe believes, forgetting one key part of the warm down.
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“A lot of cyclists forget about their stretching,” she says. “Flexibility in the cycling community is really bad. You have to stretch because that keeps injuries away and helps you recover better from races.
“You have to keep on top of your flexibility because otherwise you’ll be hitting 30 unable to stand up, stuck in that cycling position.
“A warm down is really important, even just ten minutes on the rollers to get the lactic acid out of your legs and for the long journey home – but don’t forget to stretch.”