Dan, as Head Coach you are responsible for training at Bora - hansgrohe, among other things. How do you feel about the current developments in cycling regarding the coronavirus?
Dan Lorang: I was at the altitude training camp in the Sierra Nevada with Jay McCarthy and Lennard Kämna when the travel restrictions started. We weren't flown out until Monday. The most difficult thing for us as a team now is certainly that nobody knows exactly when and how things will continue.
Numerous races have been cancelled due to the pandemic. It is currently unclear when the race calendar can be resumed. How are you dealing with this in training?
There are several aspects that need to be taken into account here. On the one hand, it is about physical performance, which must be maintained. On the other hand, there is also the mental component. After all, not every professional finds it easy to train without a goal - and without a structured racing routine, daily routines are also lost. That is certainly the biggest challenge at the moment.
How are the drivers keeping fit at the moment?
Specifically, training is currently similar to winter training: for example, we are having very good experiences with so-called polarised training, which is a combination of low-intensity, long endurance units and high-intensity, short training intervals. Of course, this only applies as long as you can still ride outside.
You are referring to the curfews that are being introduced in more and more countries. In Italy and Spain, it is no longer permitted to ride outdoors. What will happen if all training takes place indoors?
Of course, this is a serious break. And this is where the mental component comes into play even more: not every professional likes sitting on the reel for hours on end. Others, on the other hand, have no problem with it because they see it as their job. We will approach this situation carefully and make the training more playful: These can be special training tasks and intervals, but we can also work on pedalling technique, for example. In principle, riders who cope better with this situation than others could certainly have an advantage as the season progresses. We therefore support our riders to the best of our ability.
Bora - hansgrohe has 27 riders from nine nations. How do you resolve the situation that your riders live in different countries, where different training conditions now prevail?
We are taking a very individualised approach here. Despite the restrictions, it is important that everyone is now at home with their families. It wouldn't make sense to bring Italian riders to Germany at the moment, as we don't know how long the situation will last. However, as soon as the situation improves, joint training camps are certainly conceivable. We trust the health authorities in the individual countries and act in accordance with their guidelines. As this is a very dynamic situation, we are constantly evaluating the situation.
If racing resumes on a regular basis, how quickly will the drivers be ready for action? Is it seamless from the current training, or does it require special race preparation?
If we know when the season will start again, then a preparation period of 3-4 weeks would be ideal. During this period, it would be possible to focus training more specifically again in order to be able to deliver good performances at the competitions. However, the riders are certainly at a level that allows them to deliver a performance should this be necessary at short notice. But not an optimal one.
