THE SHORT ANSWER
Mads Würtz Schmidt, 2025 european gravel champion and traka winner, recently signed for specialized racing team gravel cycling, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast 2 times. Here's where Schmidt lands on winter training. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
WHO IS MADS WÜRTZ SCHMIDT?
Mads Wurtz Schmidt is the Danish 2015 U23 World Time Trial Champion who built a long WorldTour career on time trial discipline and breakaway craft. After racing for Stölting, Katusha-Alpecin, and Israel-Premier Tech across Grand Tours and Classics, he has pivoted toward gravel and selective road events as a privateer. His perspective on the realities of being a workhorse-tier WorldTour rider — and the transition into post-WorldTour racing — is candid and useful for amateurs trying to understand how pro careers actually work.
SCHMIDT ON WINTER TRAINING
Schmidt’s key positions on winter training.
- Long-term durability across a 12-year pro career is built on respect for recovery and disciplined off-season strength work.
IN SCHMIDT’S OWN WORDS
Verbatim from Mads Würtz Schmidt’s appearances on the podcast.
“I'd say 90% of my training is on the road. I think a lot of gravel guys, they make a mistake by training too much on the gravel bike. Cuz when you're on the road, you have a different speed, you have higher cadence. And you get the speed in the legs and you get those small accelerations.”
“You do the spike of 15 seconds after every 3 minutes to get some lactate, but lactate is also a source of energy. So when you're doing that in the effort, first of all, you train how to clear lactate faster, but you also train how to use the lactate as a source of energy.”
“I came home like five hours and my normalized power was 350 watt. Like it was insane.”
HEAR IT ON THE PODCAST
Episodes where Mads Würtz Schmidt covers winter training and related ground.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
What does Mads Würtz Schmidt say about winter training?
Mads Würtz Schmidt, 2025 european gravel champion and traka winner, recently signed for specialized racing team gravel cycling, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast 2 times. Here's where Schmidt lands on winter training. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
What is Schmidt's main point on winter training?
Long-term durability across a 12-year pro career is built on respect for recovery and disciplined off-season strength work.
Which Roadman Cycling Podcast episodes cover Mads Würtz Schmidt on winter training?
Schmidt discusses winter training in this episode: "Gravel Cycling Training Secrets | Roadman Cycling Podcast".
MORE FROM SCHMIDT
EXPLORE THE TOPIC
Training Plans— The Complete Guide →OTHER EXPERTS ON WINTER TRAINING