Canadian Cycling Magazine

The Hidden Motor: The Psychology of Cycling

- written by Martijn Veltkamp published by Bennion Kearny reviewed by Matthew Pioro

With any cycling event, you not only want to know what happened, but why it happened as it did. Why did Bradley Wiggins seem to fall apart, especially on descents, at the 2013 Giro d’italia? Why was Maurizio Fondriest able to win Milan-s an Remo in 1993 despite barely sleeping the night before the race? In 2001, why was Laurent Jalabert able to stop cracking during the Tour de France and stay focused on the polka dot jersey? In The hidden Motor (translated from the Dutch De verborgen-motor), Martijn Veltkamp – a psychologi­st who specialize­s in motivation and behaviour, and a cycling fan – looks into the deep reasons why these things happen .

The hidden motor is similar to 2015’ sHow bad to do you want it? by Matt Fitzgerald. In both books, the authors look at the mental components of endurance contests, the psychologi­cal elements that can make or break a race. Fitzgerald’s book applied works of scholarshi­p from the past 40 years, but mostly the past 20, to moments in cycling, running, triathlon and rowing. Veltkamp focuses only on cycling, but uses psychologi­cal studies both old and new.

Occasional­ly, Veltkamp’s analysis falls a little flat. When he pulled out Locke and Latham’s idea of s.m.a.r.t. goal setting – that cliché of corporate motivation – I felt the territory he was covering was too familiar. But mostly, Veltkamp does a good job of teasing insights from studies and bike races. I found the final two chapters the most interestin­g, in which he explores willpower (he says it can be trained) and the psychologi­cal dimensions to doping in the pro peloton. Some of Veltkamp’s conclusion­s can also help the amateur rider improve performanc­e on the bike.

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