SELF-CONFIDENCE
Katusha’s Ian Boswell derives a kick from the art of selfimprovement and, having begun his own coaching business, he believes that the biggest psychological gain is to be had from selfconfidence. Too many riders, he adds, are too busy looking over their shoulders. “Some of the top guys who I’ve ridden with have a keen ability to be confident in what they’re doing and not worry about what other riders are doing,” he explains.
Having begun his career with Sky, he recalls fielding questions from wide-eyed new arrivals. “Kenny Elissonde came to us last year, a great kid but from a very traditional French team. There was sweetcorn and avocado at the buffet at dinner, and he was like, ‘What is the reason of this?’ It’s like, ‘Kenny, man, it’s avocado and corn, there’s nothing special about it.’ People think there must be something special and secret to it, but there’s not.”
Boswell heard stories of rivals trying to replicate Sky’s low-carbohydrate training rides via Chinese whispers, by riding for six hours with no food. He was even asked whether his decision to wear one knee warmer in a race (to protect an injury) was some mystical ‘marginal gain’. “People were more worried about what Sky were doing then worrying about what they needed to do themselves,” he concludes.
“P eople were more worried about what Sky were doing than worrying about what they needed to do themselves” Ian Boswell ( Katusha) on life at Team Sky