THE SHORT ANSWER
John Wakefield, director of coaching & sports science, red bull–bora–hansgrohe, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast. Here's where Wakefield lands on coaching. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
WHO IS JOHN WAKEFIELD?
John Wakefield is the South African-born coach and bike fitter who runs Science to Sport in Girona — one of the leading lab-to-bike performance facilities in cycling — and now serves as Director of Coaching & Sports Science at Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe. He spent four seasons as Performance Coordinator and Coach at UAE Team Emirates working alongside the Pogačar-era programme, and has coached riders from amateur to Grand Tour level using a metabolic-testing-led methodology. His work matters because he is one of the few coaches who systematically translates lab data — VO2max, Fat Max, lactate response — into the actual training week amateurs and pros ride.
WAKEFIELD ON COACHING
Wakefield’s key positions on coaching.
- Lab-based metabolic testing reveals zone errors that FTP-derived calculations always miss.
- Most amateurs ride too hard on easy days because their power-derived Zone 2 is set too high.
- Aerobic-base deficits show up as second-half fade on rides over 2 hours — not on 20-minute tests.
- Bike fit is a performance variable, not a comfort one — the Girona lab combines fit and physiology testing on the same day.
- Pro and amateur training principles converge on the same physiology — the difference is the volume and the recovery.
IN WAKEFIELD’S OWN WORDS
Verbatim from John Wakefield’s appearances on the podcast.
“it's a three minute test at a specific power range that you would prescribe to that athlete so hypothetically it's anything from threshold to 110% of threshold as a power value and they would perform that three minute at that specific power uh as I said every sort of 7 to 10 days”
HEAR IT ON THE PODCAST
Episodes where John Wakefield covers coaching and related ground.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
What does John Wakefield say about coaching?
John Wakefield, director of coaching & sports science, red bull–bora–hansgrohe, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast. Here's where Wakefield lands on coaching. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
What is Wakefield's main point on coaching?
Lab-based metabolic testing reveals zone errors that FTP-derived calculations always miss.
Which Roadman Cycling Podcast episodes cover John Wakefield on coaching?
Wakefield discusses coaching in this episode: "How Team Bora Build Endurance: John Wakefield on Ultra Cycling Training".