AFRICA’S TEAM
ortugal’s Algarve province
is generally known as an
affordable holiday mecca.
With its beaches, resorts
and minimal rainfall, it is easy to
imagine why this most pleasant and
temperate region continues to attract
throngs of tourists year after year. It
is also host to one of pro cycling’s
tougher early season stage races.
While many cycling fans might not be
too familiar with the Volta ao Algarve
em Bicicleta, this annual late-February
romp around southern Portugal is
every bit as brutal as it is strategic.
And for at least one WorldTour team,
downright catastrophic.
“The Algarve derailed most of the
hard work many of our top riders had
put in over the winter,” laments Rolf
P
Above: Head of Performance Rolf Aldag (right)
chats to Team Principal Doug Ryder. It’s his job
to keep the team connected. Below: Jay Robert
Thomson rides into Pau on the 2018 Tour.
18 | TO U R
D E F R A NC E 2019
Aldag. “The season had been going
well up until that point: Ryan Gibbons
sprinting well in Tour Down Under;
Giacomo Nizzolo winning a stage in
Oman; Edvald Boasson Hagen taking
the time trial in Valencia – there was
a good momentum. Then the whole
team got really sick in Portugal,
including the staff. So we were on the
back foot from there. But the racing
calendar is set in stone and we had
to continue to race. You simply can’t
afford to panic or let the riders second
guess themselves.”
As Head of Performance for Team
Dimension Data for Qhubeka, it is
fair to say that Aldag has a big job.
It’s all about connecting the wires,
he says of a role that is still fairly new
in professional cycling. In fact, Aldag
was one of the sport’s first high
performance managers back in his
Quick-Step days, before moving on to
Africa’s Team.
“It’s a multi-faceted role,” explains
the German who was once a pro rider
himself. “Keeping the channels of
communication open between the
riders and staff, be it medical, technical
partners, coaches and so on.”
Not that it is all boardrooms and
computers for Aldag. Far from it
actually, especially when a team is
underperforming on the world stage.
As he explains, his role means that he
is always watching and observing, be
it from the team car or in race hotel
lobbies. And this big picture view
obviously extends to rider recruitment.
PRO TRAINING
DEMYSTIFIED
Dr Daniel Green
brings a wealth of
experience to Team
Dimension Data
for Qhubeka. After
stints with Trek-
Segafredo and
the BMC Racing
Team, Daniel is
now monitoring
and nurturing the
performance of Africa’s Team as both
Head of Performance Innovation and
Head Coach.
“It’s a lot of work but rewarding,” says
Green of his broad role. “A lot of my time
is spent implementing new structures
and systems, all the while monitoring
each rider’s data through a global
connection.”
In a sport that is becoming increasingly
specialised and scientific, numbers play
an important role. But as Daniel explains,
various testing structures in professional
cycling have moved with the times.
“We tend not to do too many
formal threshold tests as in the past.
So Functional Threshold Power (FTP)
is not the only measurement. A more
global performance index across all
energy systems including both training
and racing data allows us to paint a
more accurate picture of where each
rider is at. We track these parameters
over time using the Today’s Plan training
data platform.”
While most fans tend to think that
professional cyclists ride hard all the
time, Daniel is quick to point out that the
opposite is in fact the case.
“One has to realise that a professional
rider’s low end aerobic effort is around
200 Watts. That would be a very
challenging effort for your average
rider. Obviously the percentage of lower
end work varies throughout the season,
but it always makes up over half of a pro
rider’s training.”
And what about weight? How
important is a rider’s body mass in the
greater scheme of things? “Weight is a
critical factor in performance. But one
has to distinguish between optimal
and minimal weight. For example, our
climbers might benefit from being
slightly underweight in the mountains,
but will lose power and strength on the
flat roads. It’s all a case of balance really,
and is something we monitor constantly
via our Garmin Connect technologies.”