Coachinginterview

DID CAVENDISH'S COACH REVEAL THE SECRET TO WINNING? | VASILIS ANASTOPOULOS

with Vasilis Anastopoulos

42:23·2 September 2024

LISTEN NOW

Listen on

VASILIS ANASTOPOULOS

Vasilis Anastopoulos is Head of Performance at Astana Qazaqstan and the architect of Mark Cavendish's 2024 record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win. A former 17-time Greek national champion, he turned coaching after qualifying through the UCI and Greek sport-science system, joined Quick-Step in 2020 and helped engineer Cavendish's return to winning before reuniting with him at Astana for the record attempt. His approach blends classical Italian endurance methodology with modern durability testing.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Cavendish's lab numbers have always been unimpressive, but he wins because his fatigue resistance, peloton positioning and aerodynamic efficiency get him to the line fresher than rivals. Raw watts-per-kilo testing misses the qualities that actually decide a Tour stage.
The 2024 Tour was so mountainous that Cavendish would not have made the time cut on his 2012-2013 fitness. A six-week altitude block in Sierra Nevada plus the Tour de Suisse was built around climbing volume first, then sprint sharpness in the final block.
Despite being a sprinter, Cavendish does no gym work because of back issues. Instead it is core stability four times per week plus six- to seven-hour endurance rides — there is no shortcut around hours in the saddle.
Amateurs should spend most of their training in upper Zone 1 and lower Zone 2, with only two genuinely hard sessions per week. Copying pro interval density without the pro recovery, sleep and aerobic base leads to plateau, burnout or chronic fatigue.
Coaching is increasingly 'Netflix-ified' with sexy cadence drills and complex intervals to justify fees, but boring base work is what builds riders. The harder skill is resisting the rider's own demand for more complexity.

TOPICS

CHAPTERS

Vasilis Anastopoulos, the coach behind Mark Cavendish's historic Tour de France stage record, breaks down exactly what made it happen. We dive deep into Cavendish's training—altitude camps, core work, long endurance rides—and uncover why his lab data doesn't match his real-world dominance. You'll also hear Vasilis's honest take on why most amateur cyclists are getting their training completely wrong.

Key Takeaways

Mark's physiological lab data is poor, but his efficiency and fatigue resistance in races are elite—don't sign riders based purely on testing metrics; results and race craft matter more
Build altitude camps around race-specific demands: Cavendish did 6-7 weeks of climbing-focused altitude work to prepare for the 2024 Tour's brutal mountain stages
Amateur cyclists should spend 80-85% of training time in Zone 1-2 endurance, with just 2 high-intensity sessions per week—copying pro interval density will burn you out, not build you up
Core training (4x per week) and 6-7 hour endurance rides trump gym strength work for sprinters; Cavendish did zero gym sessions but focused on specific core stability
The biggest coaching mistake is making training 'sexy' with complex cadence drills and constant intensity changes to justify fees—simple, boring base-building is what actually works
Trust between coach and athlete is everything; telling Cavendish harsh truths about doubters motivated him more than false positivity ever could

Expert Quotes

"He's super efficient he's super aerodynamic and everybody's talking about his sprinting watts he's producing in the sprints but they forget that in order to win the Tour de France you have to arrive at the finish fresher than the other guys—it means you have to have really huge fatigue resistance."

"The biggest mistake amateur riders do is they try to copy what the pros do but they forget that the pros don't do anything except training, eating and sleeping while they have to do an 8-hour job and they try to replicate the intervals that Pogacar or Van der Poel is doing—why is not possible."

"If you are an amateur you have to devote most of your time on Zone one zone two and then we can put some specific efforts just two times per week—that's enough for you."

CLAIMS FROM THIS EPISODE

Each tagged with the strength of evidence behind it.

EXPERT
Cavendish records poor laboratory data and rarely finishes a lab test, yet wins via efficiency, aerodynamics and the fatigue resistance to arrive at the sprint fresher than rivals — the qualities lab protocols do not capture.
Source: Vasilis Anastopoulos
ANECDOTE
Comparing Cavendish's climbing data from 2012-2013 with 2024 shows he could not have made the Tour's time cuts on his old fitness — confirmed by sprinters such as Fabio Jakobsen abandoning or being eliminated on time in 2024.
Source: Anastopoulos comparing Cavendish's historical climbing files to 2024 Tour data
PRO PRACTICE
Cavendish's record build included two altitude camps — Colombia in January and a roughly six-week Sierra Nevada block plus the Tour de Suisse in May — deliberately stacking climbing volume first and reserving sprint-specific work for the final pre-Tour phase.
Source: Anastopoulos's coaching practice with Cavendish at Astana
PRO PRACTICE
Altitude adaptations from a properly executed camp can be retained for roughly two months, allowing teams to time a single block six to seven weeks out from a target race.
Source: Anastopoulos citing Astana's internal research and coaching practice
EXPERT
Time-crunched amateurs progress fastest with mostly upper-Zone-1 to lower-Zone-2 endurance and only two high-intensity sessions per week; daily intervals exceed amateur aerobic capacity and force a week of recovery once they accumulate.
Source: Vasilis Anastopoulos
EXPERT
Anastopoulos targets an LT1-to-LT2 ratio of roughly 80-85% and an LT2-to-VO2max ratio above 80-83% as markers that a rider has built enough aerobic base to absorb high-intensity work.
Source: Vasilis Anastopoulos

RESOURCES MENTIONED

KEY QUOTES

“if you put him in a lab she get the shittiest data you can have she's not good at all yeah really really she's not good at all in the lab I don't think has ever finished the lap to be honest he just f it uh on the other hand he's super super efficient”
Vasilis Anastopoulos — Head of Performance at Astana, former Quick-Step coach

“I could even uh compare some data of Mark back on 2012 2013 when it was really good with this year's data on the climes and there's was no way that he could be he could have made it back then finish on the time limit”
Vasilis Anastopoulos — Head of Performance at Astana, former Quick-Step coach

“I want to make him stronger first and then faster so how long can you hold on to those altitude gains so you're saying what was that like six seven weeks out from the start of the thr front yeah you uh you know based on our uh on our research you can keep it for two months”
Vasilis Anastopoulos — Head of Performance at Astana, former Quick-Step coach

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT2 SECTIONS

Today I sit down with legendary coach vilus and hopis vilus probably…

Today I sit down with legendary coach vilus and hopis vilus probably best known at the moment for coaching Mark Cavendish to Breaking the Tour of France alltime stage record previously he's worked with some of the biggest teams in the sport including quickstep now finds himself at estana Kazakhstan today we sit down and we try to deconstruct exactly what Mark avent's preparation was like what training sessions was he doing how much time was he spending at altitude was to focus on sprinting climbing did he do strength training core work we get into the weeds of it all today please welcome to the podcast Theus Asus welcome to the robman podcast how it jooy you how are you my friend I'm good thanks I think let's start off with Mark avish because everybody's been absolutely obsessed with this story since dis broke the record so let's get a little bit of an insight into kind of kish's preparation for the records did you enjoy coaching Mark uh after finishing I would say now that I enjoyed it but had some stressful periods before that because had a lot of um sicknesses and uh uh had some uh really tough time during the Spring season dur spring crisis so yeah I I could say that it was a challenge it was a big big challenge I think I could write a group a really nice book about what happened this year it was uh it was a really nice JY very nice one so you come in pay me picture of your relationship cish so you've come in from you've had your own background where I think you were like 17 time Greek national champion you go off you do your sport Science qualifications your UCI qualifications then you step into Quick Step which we'll get into in a little bit and then you decide to come over to estana how much of that move over to estana was motivated by this Cavendish project on the record uh the truth is that when I decided when I had talks with Alexander wur of join Nana we didn't know that Mark would continue so start you know the CH during the during to finance last year and U I made my decision by the end of to FR when Mark crash and we didn't know that he would come back but you know once I to join because V want me to come step over and take the RO of head of performance in the team then I just uh talk to Mark and I said mate if you decide to continue we're going to do it together again so that's how how EV happened I had already made my mind before Mark continues but of course every aligned you know I join aana Mark decided to give a go for one year then we just continue working together together was it your first time working no no of course not no you a quick step we start working yeah we start working together in uh 2000 when I was with quickstep so Mark joined the team really late in December and uh they assigned me to start working with Mark eventually it was Brian H his old DS who asked the D that should be the one who start should start working with M Mar so till then I didn't know Mark okay I knew mark from uh you know any news on TV but I didn't know Mark personally and we start working together in 2020 21 and 22 uh after he left so we sto working together when he left Quick Step to a and then we joined of course this year and so when you go back to workout Mark again like what's the starting point are you how you draw a line in the sand I guess the analogy I'd use is if I jump into a car the GPS wants to know two things it wants know where I am right now and it wants to know where I'm going we all know where Mark was going he wanted to go for that record but how do you think about quantifying where he is right now the starting point no the starting point back in 2000 was like uh I just want Mark to get back to winning we never thought about winning to the France we never talked about uh Records or anything Mark was a bit lost the last three years so he hadn't go any race for three and a half years before join quick step Patrick Le gave him the opportunity to join the team and uh I sat out with him and I said mate I see what you've done in the past I think I can uh I can change some things in your training who can do some things a little bit different and uh my God feelings that you can start win again so that was the start of our relationship of our coach R relationship it's funny because we've all heard the stories about Cavendish physiologically not super impressive when he went to T-Mobile in his early years people were looking at his physiological data and saying we're not even sure how you're a professional cyclist your numbers just don't add up since T-Mobile days we've obviously had the passage of time where he's become one of the most successful sprinters of all time but how do you weigh those two up when you're starting to build a physiological picture of Mark how much are you looking at the data and how much are you looking at the results Mark's a unique it's a unique person so if you put him in a la she get the shittiest data you can have she's not good at all yeah really really she's not good at all in the lab I don't think has ever finished the lap to be honest he just f it uh on the other hand he's super super efficient he's super a and everybody's talking about his sprting the Vats he's producing the Sprints and the those things but they forget that in order to win through the France you have to arrive at the finish freshen than the other guys it means that you have to have a really huge really big fatig resistance and also uh the mental approach that Mark takes uh to to theant Stage race to to FR States it's uh it's completely different to any other race he can stop he can uh abandon all the races that he's doing during the season when he comes to the France he's a complete different person Swit he's a warrior yes indeed indeed and uh I think what Mark needed back then was someone to trust him and to to give a faith to him so when we at our first chapter I think I gain his uh his commitment and his trust by telling him the truth I didn't uh treat Mark as a big star but just the same as a NE bro as a wrer who just or just coaching I was also new it was Al only my second year Quick Step uh I was just a coach from gree nobody knew about and that help us SP a really good really nice relationship from the beginning on start on and I also used uh some extra motivation tools as you can say because I had recently uh listen to a podcast from Inigo Milan and he said that Mark Avengers was not win any race anymore because he was U he couldn't finish the race he couldn't uh sprit at the end of the race and that's what I used and I think Ino a notot for that he was that was a 10 point I said Mark here's what what the other people think about you here's what the other coaches think about you I think it's time to prove them wrong and we can do our job that was already December 2000 but you know that can go two ways because some athletes won't respond to that they'll go into their shell and they'll they'll crumble but other athletes will use that as motivation to get out the door trying and to execute intervals properly to tighten up their lifestyle how did you know that feed Mark that snippet from the podcast was going to elicit a positive effect I know that from the you know from the other da from the team especially from Brian that the more you doubt about Mark the better he gets so the more negative CRI he gets the better he gets H and that you know as you said it was a TW way it was a risky situation but that's how I felt that uh I should approach it that that moment and I was really honest with him I didn't like him I didn't uh I didn't want to present a nice story I said that it's going to be hard if you trust me you're going to suffer we may or may not succeed but uh this is the way of working and that's just I present you my whole idea of how I would like to work with him you talked about that gap between if you put Mark in the lab he's very poor data results but yet he's the most successful Sprinter of all time can we start to understand what modern technology now how to bridge that Gap I think when he was at t- Mile we didn't have the tools to understand the complex stuff like fatigue resistance like efficiency levels like aerodynamics can we start to understand now and painted data picture to show how efficient Mark is to show his fatigue resistance not just Mark any Rider is the testing there to show that Stu now uh I think only if we get the data from races itself from the race itself we can really understand what's going on for example mark is really efficient he's really he's saving lot of energy states in a hardways back to the France he knows how to move in the pon he knows how to save your so he does uh he does spend any extra kilog of energy that's Bri and uh the way of sprinting is just just unique I think he's still one of the most AO uh iro riders in the prop pellon when we're talking about spreading I remember racing crit races in the US and sometimes you'd have like a you know a 2 kilometer circuit and you might have 100 km race so you have 50 laps of this 2 km circuit to do so you have 50 opportunities to do this left hand corner so you got to experiment and each time I've been looking at my power and thinking okay can I get my head a little lower can I change my angle of Entry can I change my angle of exit just to get my normalized power down a small bit on that lap to save some energy but now when I look at what we call these huge talents coming through so many DS's are signing Riders off the back of just purely their data I'm hearing all the time oh this kid wrote you know rocker coob and he's after breaking the record or this kid done so and so time but when we just look at the Times these kids are doing we just look at what's per kilogram it's not capturing that Efficiency do you think you can teach that efficiency or how should you know coaches approach that if they're take it a wrer in who isn't currently efficient you know that's I think that's the problem with motorcycling where so much focus on data on watch per kilo on the test that the Riders do that we forget that they are Riders they have to race they have to race against 150 other Riders so they have to know how to position themselves they have they have to know how to save energy they need to be racist otherwise we just do lap test or a 10K D after d and make the world champion or something yeah it's true because nowadays we're bombing from Managers from uh from Young Riders with exceptional numbers but at the end of the day you need to be a racer you need to know how to race your bike and how to race in the peladon the fact that we have a lot of crashes lately not only now the last two three years is because the wrer Sign Pro contract so early that they don't do the necessary steps on development so moneyers don't have the the foundations to step to the Bros who have forgotten you have to start with Cadet go to Junior under 23s and then to the pro most of the Riders now step immediately from the all the teams eventually now right sign Riders from the Juniors to the pro riders but they forget that the development path should not be should be should be respected you have to do a certain amount of races in lower category the 2.2 races 1.2 races to get used to racing and then to the pro I have H I have chat I chat with Patrick Le some years ago and I told him you know Patrick I think that Remco everol h a lot cycling why because Ros jum from Junior submitted to the BR and he was succeeded so everybody thought that there are so many wrers who can do that I just don't agree with that we should do patient they should just focus on the fundamentals then the classic in the basics and then step on the pro the BR but is the problem with this that the people who are incentivized like the team owners everyone wants to find the next Remco so the roers in a sense become collateral damage the Reuters there's not that much consideration given to reuer welfare so you know by that I mean if we take 20 Riders who all have good data and we put them all into the pro pelaton straight away maybe 19 of them don't make it but if they find one Remco it's all worthwhile but if you had a slower buildup like the French color ler like the apprenticeship and you put them all into a French amateur team then you put them all into a continental team riding 2.2 2.

Ons and build them up slowly maybe six or seven or eight of the 20…

Ons and build them up slowly maybe six or seven or eight of the 20 make it R man I'm going to date myself here but I've been riding the bike for almost 20 years and in that time I've cycled through every cycling apparel brand out there and I kept swapping out different apparel Brands each season until I found lall there's something really different about la and as soon as you slip into the gear you Noti this it feels different it feels better I've had the pleasure of chatting with yanto Barker on the podcast he's the lall founder and his dedication to crafting the fastest most refined cycling apparel out there it's nothing short of inspiring yanto isn't just trying to create gear I get the feeling he's actively and obsessively trying to perfect cycling gear trust me as soon as you slip on theall kit as soon as you zip up that Jersey you can feel that commitment the proof for the call it's in the pudd this is the same kit Jay hindley wore when he clinched overall victory in the jir Natalia there's a confidence that comes at wearing apparel that's been battle tested and Podium proven in races like this year toal you trust me feeling good on the bike means you're going to perform better if you have a second I highly advise you to jump on over to lol. CC and check out their amazing range of CAS and experience this feeling for yourself yeah exactly that's that's what happened because the thingsam the team bosses they just need to find this exceptional Talent uh who's going to win races in two three years time already this exactly what's happening how do we stop that I'm not saying it's bad it's bad or or not or it's good or bad but uh in my point of view it's um it's it's how it goes now and it's not right so if you're looking to sign a ryer next year you know and F the cor of come see any looking for advice on two Riders both physiologically identical how do you start to balance the consideration of efficiency fatigue management is it straight out you just look at their results and say well they both have the same type engine but this guy's getting much better results I think it's it's a combination you have to look at the results we have to look at the uh race history about the race the Riders have done the Pim very finished and I like to talk a lot to my writers or to the ex- riters because the writers are the ones who raised against each other in the Pelon so if I'm going to sign a rider I'm going to ask my Riders the riders for is now te what do you think about this guy how is he behaving the penon how is he racing is he a good character not or a bad character you enjoy racing with him or not so it's not only about the data it's it's a whole picture we've seen this trend with writers recently of spending huge amount of time at altitude I heard Victor carparts after his tour to France win talking about I think a nine we altitude Camp leading up to the Tour of France even his wife given birth at the altitude Camp which is crazy was altitude something you incorporated into Cavs run up to the record yeah definitely this uh this year we did the two Gan in Colombia in jary and one Sada and may been up to the two and I think that was beneficial uh the data we got from this years to the France show that the the the level is so high now I could even uh compare some data of Mark back on 2012 2013 when it was really good with this year's data on the climes and there's was no way that he could be he could have made it back then finish on the time limit it's out coincidence that a lot of SPS this year either stopped the race like Fab arson because it was too hard or they were out of the time limit and the the truth is that we had to study really well this year H about the base that had to do with of course with the team and uh the time gaps had to have in each climb in order to make the time limit and sometimes was really really close so I think if we hadn't done this Al GS uh uh Mark spr will be the same but his uh climbing a bit his his AB will not be the same he would suffer more does everyone respond to altitude or is there altitude genetic responders and genetic non-responders now to my experience uh not everybody responds the same but on the other hand you can do an antit camp and you can gain so much you have so many so many gains it's not only about the you know create hemoglobin um about these physiological gains you can also have your environment where you only train eat well sleep well socialize with your teammates and you repeat every day so even if your blood values don't go up as you say don't improve all the other parameters will improve so I'm I'm really a big fan of the gamps and for someone like Mark going into the altitude of Camp do you pull back on training intensity do you pull back on training duration or how do you think about setting up a training plan during an Al Camp uh for the camp that we did in May which was like almost a month and a half before to the fs was mostly focused on on the hour and on climbing M every day so I want to to spend accumate a lot of fatig to spend a lot of uh days climbing so his mases um are used to a lot of climbing because that was the profile of the to the France don't forget that this year to the France had the really really a lot of clim mes so that's that's a purpose of that CL I knew that you would get uh slower after this clam this clam but you will get more comfortable on the clients uh and you will get a little bit faster on the CLS uh I devoted this period so he did the out C in sevada and would did two the and there were lot of people saying why doing two the there not any Sprint opportunities there was only one and but there a lot of driving but that was exactly my plan to spend a lot of time driving uh and then we devot the last part of his preparation on Spring deep so I want to make him stronger first and then faster so how long can you hold on to those altitude gains so you're saying what was that like six seven weeks out from the start of the thr front yeah you uh you know based on our uh on our research you can keep it for two months okay am is enough finish there are of course individuals can individual characteristics but I think can even keep it for two months and is are you a fan of Str addition work H yeah we did the problem with Mark is that he had some issue with his back so we don't do any gym sessions but on the other hand who spent a lot of time on C ability exercise and specific core program for K it's bizarre to say that but Mark has done any gym for the last I mean any way training the last three years that work together and when you say core training is that every single day or is it like a couple of times a week I'm talking about four times per week four times a week so I prefer going have a long rid and six seven rides to focus on on this uh you know on the on the Arabic development uh spending many hours in the bike on good nutrition and uh skip this decessions yeah it's funny because we're increasingly in a world where everyone's looking for a hack or a you know short cour a fast way to get to success not just in cycling in everything but it's refreshing to hear you and other top coaches like Steven CER Danang John Wakefield all just emphasizing that time in the saddle you need to just spend spend six seven eight hours riding your bike in one go that there's no there's no shortcut around time in the saddle yes exactly at the end of the days how much time you spend on the S who will Define a chest note and you said they're not so Cuts you cannot do you cannot reach a level to people to the FR states with two our rights even if you do the craziest thing you can never do so when you look at long rides are you predominantly Zone one zone two and then as a followup to that how do you know when enough endurance is enough are you looking at like LT1 lt2 or when they're moving a certain amount right you're thinking okay we have endurance boxed off now we can start to lay on intensity or what's your kind what's your protocol for considering how much urance to do on when to stop it yes I'm focusing on the D one during the during rights and then I can see uh so always the target when you do such a long is to improve a little bit your to move your ld1 close to the ld2 to ld2 and then move the ld2 go close to your ver Max is that the optimal goal for each coach so this is the this is how I I Define if the six hour ride or the seven hour ride had the the desire effect effect to the rider and of course it's different when we're talking about for sprinters or for climbers uh GC rers it's a complete different approach of course and so what's the intensity level they're spending time out on those long Insurance rides because I've seen some coaches even putting Zone One Rides in yeah most of the ride it's upper Zone Zone one and they would do most of the climbs and around just below no more than that this about the the long r i prescribe this long EAS endurance rides I want the Riders to fin to finish those long rides TI but not EX it this the how I described I told them I always tell them I want to finish tide but not completely spent that's not the the target of the of this session so when they're getting up the next day are they carrying residual fatigue from that ride or they feel like they could do the same R again H they can they can feel like can do the same R again I think that's the key on the success and do you look at data like har variability anything like that to determine their readiness to do the next day's training session Rob man I know how serious you take your goal setting whether they're Fitness or life related goals if you're looking for a powerful Ally to support you on this journey look now further than hu hu has become my secret weapon for when I don't have time to prepare a balanced meal ensures I get the nutrition I need without sacrificing time or taste plus it stops me from reaching for that takeaway menu I always throw a bottle into my backpack when I'm heading into the city to work and it stops me eating junk convenience food snacking on crossons and bars of chocolate because I know they don't support my training goals it's a handy nutritious meal on the go and it's got over 22 gram of protein hu is perfect for athletes that don't have time to cook or prepare food before a training session it's convenient nutritious fuel at your fingertips ensuring you hit your daily fueling needs for that session H ready to drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals in every single bottle you're getting a whopping 175 health benefits plus it's made from natural ingredients like Topeka Sunfire seed coconut and more the best part it's the flavors there's eight crazy beautiful flavors iced coffee is what's in my backpack right at the moment you can get U directly to your home all you got to do is head on over to the hu website hu.com Roan yeah I would take you know HRV racing hydrate uh uh urine color uh to wait all this data next morning to to see if they recovered from the rids or not because also we're talking about specific blocks of training it's not only about one training usually will do three 4 day blocks or two day blocks and then you have to to be able to manipulate these sessions and to to combine them so at the end of the day you have the total idea to picture after how the the item looks like after two three days of work if he needs one day of recovery if he needs two days of recovery it's up to the coach to determine and based on his experience what is the the response of the r because nowadays we have a lot of data have a lot of as I said a lot of metrics but at the end of the day the question that we do to the r how big you feel is the most accurate one yeah I think that's like a pendulum cuz when I started and you know I was reading books like for training Bible that was all they talked about how do you feel do a morning score what's your fatigue from one to five what's your motivation to train from one to five your level of sickness and then from that you decide if you're going to train or not but in the you know next 10 15 years we' seen this massive Trend towards data but I kind of view it like a pendulum and it feels to me like the pendulum's back swinging a little bit away from data and going back to the writer how do you feel because the data's always going to be a for how do you feel yes exactly exactly I also have the same same philosophy because we might have so many data now but we're not talking talking about computers we're talking about human beings and this didn't sleep well all didn't uh few way in the night before or had fight with his girlfriend while in the camp uh he just makes to just need to be honest and uh discuss with the coach because if you had if the it were just computers we'll take all the data and we should need to do any train plans or any adjusting the train plans we'll get the train plans for an automatic uh software especially now with the AI technology it would be really easy and then we have the optimal train program for each one then we shouldn't would wouldn't need the coaches that but that's a joke of the coach we have to do with human beings and we have to be very very careful on what we and how we prescribe a drain to them when you look at amateur athletes what I've seen in the last few years is because we're all time crunched you know we're all balancing conflicting demands in our time we've you know family obligations work obligations and then we're trying to squeeze our training in what we've seen is athletes who can train 10 hours a week they've started to add more and more intensity into that 10 hours so it's like almost every day it's just packed full of intervals and Cadence changes how would you approach that kind of philosophy you have of Zone one zone two been so important with an amateur athlete who is time crunched you know nowadays that you can get the info so easily uh internet's full of train programs uh the biggest mistake that the the amateur of do is that they try to copy what the pros do but they forget that the pros don't do anything except from training eating and sleeping while they have to do an8 hour job in the morning and they have to go out for training and they try to replicate the the intervals that POG for example is doing or V girl is doing why is not not possible to me it's it's really simple if you are in in am much out you have to devote most of your time on uh Zone one zone two and then we can put some uh specific efforts just two times per week that's enough for you it's enough to bring you in in a decent level I have seen a lot of uh am doing as you describe earlier on intervals every day every single day qu the work it's going to bring you up to a certain level but then you're going to stting to to hold it and you're going to feel either over pained or you're going to feel the fatigue or you will not be able to to have any social life at all yeah and you just finish your work and then you will be just after that you just dead name so for that's my experience yeah I almost feel there's a I call it the Netflix effect where coaches an athletes at amateur level because if a Coach or if an athlete says I only have 10 hours available to train this week and you prescribed to two interval sessions and the rest of it Zone one zone two so they Tuesday there look at their China Peaks and it's like 60 Minutes Zone one zone two Thursday 60 Minutes Zone one zone two it's like their coach almost feels like they need to justify their W by adding in all these crazy Cadence changes all these like I remember one of my earliest coaches Mike Barry who was riding for team sky and he was coaching me when I was out in France and he used to just send me an EXL spreadsheet and it' just be like four hours endurance five hours endurance six hours endurance like really simple but then I seen the evolution to training plans now where it's like five minutes of disc Cadence six minutes of disc Cadence you know an activation every six minutes and it's like I call it Netflix because it's almost like a need to entertain the athlet yeah because the that class now they need to look sexy uh there is there are so many coaches remember 20 years ago they're not so many in the Pro in the world teams there were not even coaches there were just the DS's who were doing the plans now there are so many coaches out there and uh every single one needs to present something new something complex something uh to trigger the you know the Curiosity of the rider so I think the more uh complex sessions they give to the Riders uh the better they think they are it's it's s uh you need when you are a cach you have to do with Amo Riders you need to sell your programs so the program you described earlier on four hours five hours with no no intervals no drills no uh Chang in the RM no spikes or anything it's not as sexy it's the one that I would describe ear on so at the end of the day that's the difference but there a huge huge that's a big big danger that after a couple of weeks or a couple of months the rider will just uh I I I won't say burn out but uh his condition will not be the the desired one the level of his his performance is there two elements to this because what I think about it there's an insecurity of the part of the coach that they need to justify their value or their worth by adding in all this as you call it sexy training descriptions and then there's a trust element from the client or the athlete so it's like the athlete needs to trust that four errors with no intervals five errs no intervals six hours no inters is the correct session yeah I think it's all about the trust so if they are the trust what the coach say is that we have to do three hours no intervals four hours no intervals instead of doing all those uh the czy inter don't don't get me wrong I also do those crazy intervals with the pros uh not every day of course but there are some really key sessions that they look really really crazy but you just can't do that every day and you can't especially you can do that to the amateur Riders because they don't have the votations they don't have the aerobic capacity to absorb this uh this kind of sessions because usually they are really high intensity really high intensity sessions uh could trigger the anerobic capacity V to Max and if you don't have the the big Engineers we say if your aerobic Foundation aerobic capacity is not well developed then you you just cannot uh absorb those sessions you cannot uh uh tolerate and if you do two three four times those sessions they you will then you will need one week to recover that's that's for sure and and here comes the the intence and the experience of the coach how can resist on um even if the wrer ask you to put some more session some more C session some more uh complex sessions how can you resist uh to this to this demand from the from the code from the idea how would you determine if an amateur athlete has done enough base training that they're able to start to absorb these higher intensity efforts uh I would see the L you know the percentage of LT1 to lt2 and also the percentage of lt2 to the to Max so I would go back and look all this this data to to tell that okay he's done a lot of aerobic work now can move to the second phase the phase of building up high density so what percentage you looking at for it to be op up uh I would say for a 81 to L2 close to to 80 85% and the lt2 to V Max above above 8 to 83% okay so you're really trying to close that gap between lt2 and Vu Max that's optimal yes yeah exactly yeah and I'm I'm guessing there's no like what works for Joe won't work for Sally it's very individual how much aerobic training it takes to start moving LT1 and lt2 to the right yeah definitely it's it's completely it's totally individual that's why you have to have the data from uh from The Bu years for each IDE to study them and then uh each one's complete different very interesting and you talked about altitude camps for Mark do you think there's a value in amateur athletes in altitude camps or is that just something they absolutely shouldn't consider first of all the altitud camps cost a lot of money uh if you're an amanet you have to take take time out and do work being holidays does it go to spend so much time away from your family quite your time uh out of work is limited during the season or to Works to to spend this time and together with the family and invest on going doing some extra races or uh uh going on holiday with family when we can uh who can train it's it's a balance of course it's it's going to add something if you do camp and you are an Rider but on the other hand what is the cost of your social life spend time with the family as I said they're not paid to Wi races they're paid to do a job and ride their bike as a pleas if I was an amateur Rider working 8 to 10 hours per per day and I would say to my wife that I'm going now for three weeks on gabone I think my wife care of divorce favors well that's for sure yes yes and just to finish up you mentioned AI briefly in the conversation is there any emerging Trends or technologies that you're excited about coming down the pipeline that you think will change coaching Roan whether you're a weekend warrior or a world tour Rider the right tools can make all the difference enter four eyes Precision three plus power meter the latest Innovation from 4i designed to help you reach Peak Performance the Precision Tre plus parameter is a compact yet powerful unit it weighs just 9 G and it's packed with features that set it apart including integration with Apple's fine mind Network giving you the Peace of Mind by letting you track your parameter wherever it is plus you've got up to 800 hours of battery life we all know that accuracy is key and for o delivers a groundbreaking plus or minus 1% accuracy thanks to their unique 3D strain gauge technology for those seeking even more data the Precision 3+ Pro par meter offers dual-sided power meter metrics giving you deta detailed insights into pedling efficiency torque Effectiveness and left right balance for eyes offers versatile product options to suit your needs choose from R ready parameters with pre-installed units on Shimano cranks or up for factory install parameter where you send in your crank set for a custom installation ready to elevate your cycling game trust Four Eyes Precision Tre plus parameter Precision performance and peace of mind all in one learn more by visi in for iii.com that's for iii.com I'm going to put that in the description down below uh I think Ai and the data science data Engineers are really necessary now the thingss in fact uh this year uh I was working with a data science to analyze the data from the training from the spring to determine what was the best uh the optimal toor the optimal uh geing selection to uh choose the right uh handb size cries and everything so all these are really beneficial and they are really they add something to the teams to the coach to the DS to make decision on the race I think the next uh top of years all the teams will have data science already now the top teams uh already employee data analysis and data science but I think in the next two three years every single P will have the data data science uh the problem with AI is that uh sometimes we have some get some crazy results because the power meters are not well calibrated ER the Riders during their career they use different bran of power meters where can have a an error of 2 three up to 5% so using the AI technology doesn't Rec those changes and then can have false false info uh that's why you have to be really careful and critical how we use all this uh data yeah we all have have to be able to we all have our favorite parameter don't we that read it's like 20 watts to yeah exactly exactly but imagine if I if I I build up a platform put in all the data there and get some really bad data from the power meter that I had two years ago then uh uh if I ask the rider to hit again the same numbers he will not be able to hit because the bar met was ready 20 30 bus more and then uh effec my training plan will be [ __ ] because uh the either will not get any in any way to hit those numbers again that's why I have to be very very critical and be careful how to use this uh this technology I really enjoyed this conversation thanks for taking the time to Chas it's been a fascinating insight into you you know C's preparation for the record but also just how amateurs should try in and with a with a blade of caution while copy in the pros has been my takeaway thanks a lot thanks a lot thanks much my pleasure so if you like this video you should definitely check out this video because I know you're going to love it and don't forget to subscribe to the channel

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What made Mark Cavendish's Tour de France stage record possible?+

According to coach Vasilis Anastopoulos, it was not exceptional laboratory numbers but rather Cavendish's fatigue resistance and race-day efficiency that set him apart. Anastopoulos explains that Cavendish's physiological test results have always been unremarkable, and that the preparation focused on optimising how he performs under accumulated race stress rather than improving raw wattage.

Who was Mark Cavendish's coach for his record-breaking Tour de France win?+

Vasilis Anastopoulos, head of performance at Astana Kazakhstan, was the coach behind Cavendish's preparation for his record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win. He details the full preparation process in this podcast episode, including the specific approaches used to get Cavendish to the line in the best possible condition.

How did Cavendish's team use criticism as motivation at the Tour de France?+

Vasilis Anastopoulos describes using public criticism, including negative comments from Iñigo San Millán, as a deliberate motivational lever. He learned from staff at Quick-Step that Cavendish consistently performs better the more he is underestimated, so external doubt was treated as a tool rather than a problem to manage.

What are Cavendish's physiological strengths according to his coach?+

Vasilis Anastopoulos is clear that Cavendish's laboratory numbers have never been impressive and that raw power output is not his defining quality. His real strength lies in fatigue resistance and the ability to perform at a high level repeatedly across the gruelling demands of a three-week Grand Tour.

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

Weekly insights from the podcast. The stuff that actually makes you faster.

READ THE GUIDE

The written companion to this episode.

Cycling Coach Near Me: Why Location Doesn't Matter Anymore

In 2026, the best cycling coach for you probably isn't in your city. Here's why the 'near me' search is the wrong frame, and what you should…

Cycling Coach Near Me: Why Location Doesn't Matter Anymore

In 2026, the best cycling coach for you probably isn't in your city. Here's why the 'near me' search is the wrong frame, and what you should…

Cycling Coach vs Triathlon Coach: Which Do You Actually Need?

Triathlon coach, cycling coach, or both? Here's the framework for deciding, based on where your time is leaking in race-day splits.

USE THESE TOOLS

RELATED EPISODES

More episodes you might enjoy

Episode

Coaching49:50

ASTANA COACH ON ZONE 1 TRAINING | ROADMAN CYCLING PODCAST

Vasilis Anastopoulos, head of performance at Astana Pro Team, thinks most cyclists are skipping the bit that actually matters. Zone 1 riding. Not zone 2. Zone 1. Below 55-60% of threshold, easy enough to hold a conversation, and most amateurs treat it as junk miles.

with Vasilis Anastopoulos

Episode

Community6:21

GREIPEL OPENS UP ABOUT RELATIONSHIP WITH CAVENDISH | RDMN CLIPS

This is an extract from Anthony's chat with André Greipel on Roadman Cycling Podcast.

with André Greipel

Episode

Coaching30:33

5 MISTAKES SELF-COACHED CYCLISTS MAKE | ROADMAN CYCLING

Most self-coached cyclists aren't failing because they're lazy. They're failing because they keep making the same five mistakes, and nobody's told them what those mistakes actually are. This episode of the Roadman Cycling podcast calls them out.

DID CAVENDISH'S COACH REVEAL THE SECRET TO WINNING? | VASILIS ANASTOPOULOS

CHAPTERS

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

CLAIMS FROM THIS EPISODE

RESOURCES MENTIONED

KEY QUOTES

Today I sit down with legendary coach vilus and hopis vilus probably…

Ons and build them up slowly maybe six or seven or eight of the 20…

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

ASTANA COACH ON ZONE 1 TRAINING | ROADMAN CYCLING PODCAST

GREIPEL OPENS UP ABOUT RELATIONSHIP WITH CAVENDISH | RDMN CLIPS

5 MISTAKES SELF-COACHED CYCLISTS MAKE | ROADMAN CYCLING

RELATED CONTENT

GREIPEL OPENS UP ABOUT RELATIONSHIP WITH CAVENDISH | RDMN CLIPS

CAVENDISH'S COACH ON WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN — VASILIS ANASTOPOULOS

CYCLING COACHING RESULTS: BEFORE AND AFTER FROM REAL RIDERS

DID CAVENDISH'S COACH REVEAL THE SECRET TO WINNING? | VASILIS ANASTOPOULOS

CHAPTERS

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

CLAIMS FROM THIS EPISODE

RESOURCES MENTIONED

KEY QUOTES

Today I sit down with legendary coach vilus and hopis vilus probably…

Ons and build them up slowly maybe six or seven or eight of the 20…

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

ASTANA COACH ON ZONE 1 TRAINING | ROADMAN CYCLING PODCAST

GREIPEL OPENS UP ABOUT RELATIONSHIP WITH CAVENDISH | RDMN CLIPS

5 MISTAKES SELF-COACHED CYCLISTS MAKE | ROADMAN CYCLING

RELATED CONTENT

GREIPEL OPENS UP ABOUT RELATIONSHIP WITH CAVENDISH | RDMN CLIPS

CAVENDISH'S COACH ON WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN — VASILIS ANASTOPOULOS

CYCLING COACHING RESULTS: BEFORE AND AFTER FROM REAL RIDERS

DID CAVENDISH'S COACH REVEAL THE SECRET TO WINNING? | VASILIS ANASTOPOULOS

CHAPTERS

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

CLAIMS FROM THIS EPISODE

RESOURCES MENTIONED

KEY QUOTES

1.Today I sit down with legendary coach vilus and hopis vilus probably…

2.Ons and build them up slowly maybe six or seven or eight of the 20…

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

ASTANA COACH ON ZONE 1 TRAINING | ROADMAN CYCLING PODCAST

GREIPEL OPENS UP ABOUT RELATIONSHIP WITH CAVENDISH | RDMN CLIPS

5 MISTAKES SELF-COACHED CYCLISTS MAKE | ROADMAN CYCLING

RELATED CONTENT

GREIPEL OPENS UP ABOUT RELATIONSHIP WITH CAVENDISH | RDMN CLIPS

CAVENDISH'S COACH ON WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN — VASILIS ANASTOPOULOS

CYCLING COACHING RESULTS: BEFORE AND AFTER FROM REAL RIDERS

DID CAVENDISH'S COACH REVEAL THE SECRET TO WINNING? | VASILIS ANASTOPOULOS

CHAPTERS

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

CLAIMS FROM THIS EPISODE

RESOURCES MENTIONED

KEY QUOTES

1.Today I sit down with legendary coach vilus and hopis vilus probably…

2.Ons and build them up slowly maybe six or seven or eight of the 20…

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NEVER MISS AN EPISODE

READ THE GUIDE

RELATED EPISODES

ASTANA COACH ON ZONE 1 TRAINING | ROADMAN CYCLING PODCAST

GREIPEL OPENS UP ABOUT RELATIONSHIP WITH CAVENDISH | RDMN CLIPS

5 MISTAKES SELF-COACHED CYCLISTS MAKE | ROADMAN CYCLING

RELATED CONTENT

GREIPEL OPENS UP ABOUT RELATIONSHIP WITH CAVENDISH | RDMN CLIPS

CAVENDISH'S COACH ON WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN — VASILIS ANASTOPOULOS

CYCLING COACHING RESULTS: BEFORE AND AFTER FROM REAL RIDERS

Today I sit down with legendary coach vilus and hopis vilus probably…

Ons and build them up slowly maybe six or seven or eight of the 20…

Today I sit down with legendary coach vilus and hopis vilus probably…

Ons and build them up slowly maybe six or seven or eight of the 20…