KEY TAKEAWAYS
This is one of those conversations I've wanted to have for years. Tim Kerrison was the architect behind so much of what Team Sky and later Ineos did to dominate Grand Tours for the best part of a decade. The phrase "marginal gains" got thrown around until it lost all meaning, but sitting down with Tim you realise how much rigour sat behind the slogan.
We get into what actually produced results — and some of it will surprise you. The headline-grabbing stuff like custom pillows and skinsuit seams? Useful, sure, but Tim puts sleep quality and nutrition periodisation way above those in the hierarchy. He talks about how they structured altitude camps, how they individualised recovery protocols based on blood markers, and why the culture of questioning everything mattered more than any single intervention.
What I found most useful for our lot — the riders doing this around jobs and families — is Tim's take on where amateurs waste energy. We spend hours comparing tyre compounds when our sleep is a mess. We buy aero helmets but eat nothing on three-hour rides. Tim's message is clear: nail the fundamentals first, then worry about the margins.
We also get into some honest reflection on what didn't work. Not every idea survived testing, and Tim's willingness to bin things that looked good on paper but failed in practice is a lesson in itself.
Whether you're chasing a PB at your local time trial or just trying to get faster without burning out, there's something in this one for you.
Join the free Roadman community: https://www.skool.com/roadmancycling
Weekly insights from the podcast. The stuff that actually makes you faster.
The written companion to this episode.
Joe Friel vs Dan Lorang vs Dylan Johnson: Plan Methods
Three influential cycling-planning approaches, separated rather than blended: what each source actually says, where the evidence ends and wh…
How to Periodise a Cycling Season (Pro Template Inside)
Periodisation isn't arbitrary. Here's the annual structure pro teams use, why each phase exists, and how to build a year around your priorit…
Sleep and Cycling Performance: An Evidence-Based Guide
Sleep matters for cycling, but the evidence does not support one perfect duration, caffeine cutoff, nap length or wearable score for every r…
How to Read Your Training Data: TSS, CTL, ATL, and TSB Without the Jargon
Most amateur cyclists have a TrainingPeaks account they barely read. The numbers there — TSS, CTL, ATL, TSB — are not as complicated as they…
USE THESE TOOLS
More episodes you might enjoy
Zone 2 works brilliantly for some riders and leaves others stuck, tired and going nowhere. Anthony unpacks the missing context behind endurance training advice — drawing on insights from Mattias Reck, coach to Mads Pedersen — and explains why the zone is relative but the cost is absolute, and what time-crunched riders should actually do.
Mattias Reck has coached Mads Pedersen since 2017 — from a raw young rider into a world champion, Classics winner and Grand Tour stage hunter. He sits down with Anthony to talk about how you actually build a rider who can turn brutal racing into controlled chaos: resilience, recovery capacity, and the years it takes to learn how much training one athlete can really absorb.
with Mattias Reck
Aero gets sold as free speed for pros, time triallists and triathletes — but does it matter for the everyday rider doing club runs and sportives? This solo episode cuts through the marketing. Your body, not your bike, makes most of the drag, which means the biggest gains are the cheapest ones: how you sit, how you hold the bars, and whether your kit actually fits. Here's when aero is real free speed, when it's expensive nonsense, and the $0 changes worth making first.
An eye episode where I chat with master of the cold, Níall O'Murchú.
with Breath With Niall
Joe DiStefano has 17 years experience working with everyone from Pro Athletes, to the Ultra Rich & Celebrities.
The most repeated advice in cycling right now is "ride easier". For some riders it's transformative. For time-crunched amateurs it's often a slow road to nowhere — because the advice was built on training volumes you don't have.
WHERE TO NEXT
WHEN YOU'RE READY
Find out what's actually holding you back.
The Masters Plateau Diagnostic — six questions, a personalised breakdown of where your training is leaking watts. Free, two minutes.
Take the Diagnostic →