Harr y Tanfield

UCI World Tour rider and Commonwealth Games medallist Harry Tanfield of team Katusha–Alpecin on his preferences for a more natural approach to riding…

FREE RIDE

“I never do a set route when I’m going out for a ride as I find it really boring, whether I’m at my place in Cambridge or when I’m back home in Yorkshire. Saying that, there are only so many roads that offer the six or seven per cent gradient of climb I want that are over five minutes long.”

FUEL NATURALLY

“Depending on what the plan is for the day I’ll have poached eggs for breakfast before heading out for a four-, five- or six-hour steady ride. I prefer to eat naturally – a tin of tuna or chicken breast for lunch to give me the protein instead of a processed bar that’s going to be full of trans fats.”

RAIN CHECK

“I prefer to train in the morning and, ideally, I will do split sessions with an afternoon or evening ride, or workout, too. That’s all weatherdependent though. If it’s absolutely pissing it down in the morning but the weather looks good for the afternoon I’ll hold on and head out later in the day. I like to do the odd night ride too… but I’m not actually sure that I’m allowed to do those now!”

ROAD OVER ROLLERS

“Taking to the road is always better than doing a turbo session. Some riders who’ve got a background in sports like swimming, can sit on a turbo for hours but I just can’t. I’m not a robot. I’ll use my rollers if it’s raining or as part of a recovery ride, but I prefer to get out on the bike every time.”

RIDE AROUND WORK

“The tour schedule obviously determines how often I ride and even how I eat. If I’ve had a recovery day then I find the next day I’ll train but not eat so much. I find if you eat more in the saddle you eat less out of it. I’ll have a protein shake before bed so that my body can do all the repair work overnight. And if I ever get a decent block of time off between races I’ll head off to Spain and train in the sun.”