With the opportunity to tone down training and bike work, therefore, comes the chance to vary the way you build fitness.

Ellingworth admits to being a keen swimmer during his professional career while Giro d’Italia runner-up Rigoberto Uran is another to hit the pool.

But, Ellingworth insists, while all have their place and should be encouraged, they are a complement to bike work and not a replacement.

“Some of the guys do a little bit of running and I know when I worked with Rigoberto Uran, he does a lot of swimming,” Ellingworth explains. “It depends where you are.

“The guys who are targeting the summer, for example, their workload will be less and so there is more opportunity for different types of training.

“The thing with cycling, though, is nothing replaces cycling. If you were a cricketer, or maybe a rugby player, they have to keep a general fitness and cycling can play a part in that. But for a cyclist there is no crossover, or no immediate crossover anyway.

“A professional cyclist or a keen amateur needs to keep cycling as the core element and then you can add on alongside it. Personally, I always went cycling in the winter.

“In that November period when you are just trying to keep generally fit, you hit the gym and do some circuit training, swimming and cycling. I have no problems with anybody I work with doing swimming or running, if they are doing it just for general fitness.”

Rod Ellingworth was speaking at the Grand Final of Jaguar’s Ride Like a Pro cycling programme. www.jaguar.co.uk