Prep in an American style

He has to stick to the training plan that his new coach has designed for him. “He is an American affiliated with the University of Colorado in Boulder. I met him through my new gear supplier – Specialized. In the season 2011, apart from the bikes, I am going to use their helmet and racing shoes. This new coach of mine used to do triathlon and he has been focusing on training cyclists in the past two years,” Roman revealed. So far he has been happy with the new cooperation. “His ideas about the winter preparation, that we have outlined, suit me to a T. It is a bit different from the Italian style of training that I was used to. His training plans include a so called American motivation aspect, which is something new for me. It is not that we have rebuilt my whole style of preparation from scratch because it’s impossible to reinvent cycling. Some new features have been included but I don’t want to go into details.” They have only met twice up to now but have been communicating via email or on the phone. “From now on, he is going to visit me every month to discuss my prep,” added the Astana’s rider. In addition, specialists from the University of Colorado will watch over his eating habits. “That is what we have agreed on and I have decided to discontinue the cooperation with my current dietetic expert.” During the Christmas season Roman combined gym practicing with cross-country skiing and he even went out for an ice hockey scrimmage. “I got into pretty good shape on Majorca so I could afford to put my bike aside for a while and take care of some agenda,” he described. Cross-country skiing is not alien to him and for this reason, he sometimes goes skiing during the winter time. “I used to cross-country ski more often so my technique is not as good as before. These days I just go out for two and a half hours or so. I definitely prefer skating because I always feel pain in my knees after classic style. I manage quite easily but it’s not as enjoyable as it was when I cross-country skied three months in a year,”Roman revealed. He is now returning to Italy with the plans to fall back on his typical style of training. “The start of the team training camp in Spain is scheduled for January 14 and I would like to take my first ride on the new time trial specialist there. The bike should be in any time now.” The Astana riders will be staying in Spain until 27th January and on 28th January the opening team presentation in Monte Carlo will take place.