ANALYSIS: WOMEN’S TRAINING
How women’s racing differs from men’s, and why the training load needs to be tailored for it
Should women race the same distance as men? Put another way, would equalising distance validate women’s racing? Sit through the first half of a men’s race, especially a sprint stage, and the answer’s an unequivocal ‘no’, for the sake of our boredom thresholds. Flip to the women’s events, which are 50-100km shorter, and there’s no dead time. It’s foot down from the get-go, or at least that is how it looks. And according to research using elite riders, that’s exactly how it is. “My study shows that women race at a higher intensity than men,” says Dutch sports scientist Teun van Erp. “This is potentially revelatory and should guide how women train.”
Van Erp spent nearly nine years at Team DSM and its various incarnations before leaving last year to study a post-doctorate at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Van Erp is one of those figures who upsets the purists and romantics – he loves numbers, algorithms and finding solutions to questions most fans haven’t even considered. It’s why for four consecutive years, he collected training data from 20 male and 10 female DSM cyclists. During those seasons, the women’s team finished in the top 10 of the elite rankings; for the men, the first year’s data derived from ProConti efforts, followed by three years in the WorldTour. The merry-go-round that is pro cycling meant individuals’ data sets varied from one to four years with some riders’ race calendars curtailed due to either fitness or form.
“From the outset, I knew there’d be significant differences because of race distance and number of race days,” Van Erp tells Procycling. “When it comes to the men, the longest oneday effort is up to 300km and the longest multi-stage race is a grand tour at 21 days. For the women, the longest one-day race is around 160km, while the longest multistage race is the Giro d’Italia Femminile, which features 10 race days. Despite that, I had proof that women’s races were of higher intensity and that potentially they could tolerate higher levels of pain.”
That’s despite distinctly different profiles and power outputs from Van Erp’s cohorts. The men averaged 27 years old, were 185cm tall, weighed 73kg and their 20-minute maximum power output came in at 389 watts. The women averaged 25 years old, measured a whisker under 170cm, weighed 61kg and had a 20-minute max of 256 watts.
Obviously, absolute power – the maximum amount you can generate on the flat – is higher for the testosteronefuelled male than the female rider. Another key difference is the proliferation of fast-twitch muscle fibres. Unlike the endurance-loving slow-twitchers, these are the powerhouses that are naturally higher in men, especially sprinters.
“Despite this genetic advantage, the women spent longer periods in the higher heart-rate zones,” he explains. “In zone four, men spent 20 per cent compared to women’s 33 per cent. Zone five was even
In the women’s events, there is no dead time It’s foot down from the get- go, or at least that’s how it looks. And according to research using elite riders, that’s exactly how it is
more noticeable: men 3-4 per cent compared to the women’s 12 per cent. Overall, the men spent longer in the lower zones.” Why is this important? A basic principle of training is that riders train to race. “That’s why it would be better for the elite women to, say, do a three-hour ride with five hard efforts of five minutes while the men follow this template over a fivehour ride,” says Van Erp.
Is this race-loading profile reflected in the upper echelons? It’s a good question.
QUALITY NOT QUANTITY
We catch up with Lizzie Deignan via Zoom. Deignan is in Tenerife with husband, coach and former Sky rider Philip and three-year-old daughter Orla. Deignan’s career palmarès and 2020 renaissance that saw her end the season number one in the rankings means she’s been granted time for her own training camp beyond the previous month’s two- to three-week Trek effort in Denia. “I pay for it, though!” Deignan clarifies.
Unlike many riders who gravitate toward fighting gravity on the largest of the eight Canary Islands, Deignan’s not here for altitude efforts ascending Mount Teide, whose 3,715m peak is the highest point above sea level of the Atlantic islands. Instead, it’s a focus on family time and quality miles. “Take today,” says the Trek-Segafredo rider. “I rode three hours including two climbing intervals. It was a reasonably intense effort for 15 minutes including spikes every three minutes where I dipped into zone four. It’s a session that replicates the race environment.”
The race-specific nature is key, says Deignan, echoing Van Erp. You target a race and, with your coach, work back from that point with training efforts matching the loads of, in the case of when we chatted, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad at the end of February. For Deignan, anything more is wasted miles.
“I’m goal orientated and do what’s necessary to win those races,” she says. “We don’t have many races that are longer than four hours yet you have women who are training for six. It’s a bit like a bloke training for 10 hours.
“That said, it does depend on the athlete’s engine, and I don’t benefit from doing long endurance miles,” Deignan continues. “Doing too many miles makes me slow and tired, so I err on the side of quality not quantity. That’s why an average week will be 15-20 hours.” That adds up to around 20,000km of training and racing each season, says Deignan, which is less than around 28,000km for the men but more than the 13,000km-17,000km Van Erp recorded in his study. “It works for me,” says Deignan.
Deignan reflects that while she uses a power meter and Training Peaks software, she sidesteps heart rate and trains heavily on feel. “I can tell when it’s not worth pushing as I’m on the verge of falling ill; other days, I’m stronger than what’s on the programme so put in an extra effort. It’s valuable to push your body at the right moments. That ties in with race instinct but also training instinct. Too many riders rely on technology and lose that feeling.”
Deignan credits her father for her sharp intuition: while her mum will use a GPS on long rides across Europe, her father’s accompanied by an old-fashioned map. You also suspect Deignan’s focus on quality over quantity
Van Vleuten’s resilience and capacity to absorb huge volumes of training without falling ill are legendary – so much so that she often trains with men’s teams
is not solely personality driven. She’s a graduate of British Cycling’s Olympic Podium Programme, her track career peaking in 2009 when she took a Worlds team pursuit gold alongside Wendy Houvenaghel and Jo Rowsell.
THE ULTIMATE OUTLIER
While Deignan’s instinct for intensity over volume matches Van Erp’s analysis, there are outliers. “Just look at Annemiek [van Vleuten],” says Martin Vestby, directeur sportif for Team BikeExchange’s women’s squad. Vestby saw up close the efforts of the former world champion before the Dutch rider moved to Movistar this winter. “She racked up over 30,000km in 2020. That’s more than the men. I asked her if they were necessary, she answered, ‘No.’” Van Vleuten’s resilience and capacity to absorb huge volumes of training without falling ill are legendary – so much so that she often trains with men’s teams at training camp. Her performance physiology might not have needed the miles but, says Vestby, “It bolstered her resilience – broke down mental barriers that readied her for racing.”
I mention Van Erp’s findings to Vestby. He replies that the higher-intensity, lower-volume model is generally about right, though historically it was hard to prescribe a one-size-fits-all approach due to the lack of depth in the women’s field. “That’s changing. Now, you have more specific riders for different races. Whereas before you might have had 10 world-class riders, now there are 20, 30… if not more.
“One of the sport scientists who worked with us looked into this disparity in talent a few years ago,” Vestby says. “You should look up the studies.”
I do. The author was Paolo Menaspa, who emailed over several papers, including Demands of World Cup Competitions in elite women’s road cycling. In short, Menaspa concluded that there was a clear split between the top 10 and the rest, the main takeaways being: power outputs between 30 seconds and two minutes was much higher for the top 10, as was the ability to ride at high intensity (more than 7.5 watts per kilogramme) for longer periods.
“We’d recommend matching training sessions to these race results,” Menaspa proposed. “That means three-and-a-half hours at a mean intensity of 3.3 watts per kilogramme with 45 10-second efforts at more than 7.5 watts per kilogramme.” The evolution of women’s cycling means these results, obtained between 2012 and 2015, are probably out of date – that this physical profile is now ticked off by the top 20 or 30, not just the top 10. Why the historic chasm between riders? It’s down to several forces. On a basic level, lack of coverage meant lack of sponsorship meant lack of investment meant lack of money to train and recover properly. Only the stars, like Marianne Vos, and those supported via other avenues, like Lizzie Deignan receiving funding from UK Sport early in her track and road career, could maximise physical and psychological adaptations and truly be called a professional rider.
Jumbo-Visma launching a women’s team, led by Vos, and Deignan’s team, Trek-Segafredo, and now BikeExchange guaranteeing a minimum wage equal to the men are bridging the gap and highlight the growing professionalisation of the sport and, by virtue, training. A further exemplar is the growing number of support staff allocated to women’s teams, to identify and satisfy the individual rider’s needs. Take DSM, formerly
Van Erp’s Sunweb.
“I have proof that women’s races were of higher intensity and that potentially they could tolerate higher levels of pain" Teun Van Erp, former coach at Team DSM
STRONG AND STABLE
In 2019, the German team officially opened the doors to their Keep Challenging Centre in Sittard, Limburg. “We have 23 apartments where most of our female riders and men’s development team live,” explains Liz Nijbroek, the head nutritionist across all DSM teams. “It’s a fantastic facility where we support staff can regularly meet the riders.”
Nijbroek says the women’s team have their own full-time nutritionist and a chef at all the big races. “We didn’t use to and that has made a huge difference,” she says. “Increasingly, whether it’s feeding or training, the female riders are enjoying a tailored approach.” Does that stretch to personalised plates, often employed by the men?
“We’re particularly sensitive with the women riders and eating but this is actually something they’ve asked for, so we’re looking into it. They know this leads to stable body composition and stable bodyweight throughout the season, which is the healthy ideal.”
Not the unhealthy malpractices of many. According to acclaimed nutritionist Anita Bean, up to 30 per cent of “thin-build sports ladies” (thin build is weight-related sports like cycling) suffer one or all of the Female Triad of disordered eating, irregular periods and osteoporosis. Deignan more or less maintains an allseason race weight of around 56kg. It wasn’t always so.
“Before I met my husband, I used to do stupid things like skip meals and think that was the way to get leaner. Then my husband moved in and was like, ‘What are you doing?’ He was a climber, so being as lean as possible was important. But, he told me, the way to be lean is to eat and not make yourself overtrained and in calorie deficit all the time. Once I’d sorted my nutrition, I saw a big increase in my performance.” Stable body composition is key. At the DSM off-season training camp, each rider will have a DEXA scan before reverting to the more parochial calipers throughout the race season. “This is important,” Nijbroek adds. “We don’t say you need to lose 1kg or add 1kg because this is insensitive. It’s more so we can create a base level of corporation and they don’t do stuff on their own. Rapid weight loss is still common in the women’s peloton – and the men’s – but our set-up keeps the communication channels open and helps both the rider’s health and performance.” While the men will naturally consume more calories, both teams follow a periodisation model of nutrition, meaning fewer calories and carbohydrates in the off-season. “But we’ll then look to
carbo load for the spring classics,” says Nijbroek. “The main difference between nutrition plans is in-race feeding – which women used to be terrible at but are improving thanks to our handlebar plan (a cockpit when-to-feed sticker) – and supplements. For example, women’s iron levels tend to be lower because of the menstrual cycle, though we’d blood test them first before prescribing this or any supplement to see if they really need it.”
MANAGING MENSTRUATION
Whether it’s plummeting iron levels or not, the impact of menstruation on a female cyclist’s output is very real. Georgia Bruinvels, a researcher at UCL, found that 41.7 per cent of female athletes felt their menstrual cycle affected their performance, be it an increased risk due to hormonal changes or having to deal with cramps. While Van Erp’s research focuses on session intensity, it doesn’t account for the impact of menstruation. “Some riders are affected more than others and it’s something coaches are increasingly aware of,” says Vestby. “They might increase or decrease session length, or raise or lower intensity, depending on the hormonal profile at that time, but in general, the training doesn’t change much.”
Nijbroek concurs. As for Deignan, “There’s a week in the middle when I’m ovulating where I feel awful on the bike. Some riders feel great ovulating. I’m definitely not one of them. I don’t train too differently, though. It’s more psychological as I don’t expect PBs on those days. I used to restrict myself when I felt hungrier but I read that you need an extra 300 calories a day in the run-up to your period, which has proven beneficial!”
I then mention to Deignan that the likes of runners Liz McColgan and Sonia O’Sullivan were reported as feeling stronger post-baby. Does she, post-Orla? “Not really. It’s been a right slog to get back to this position.”
But this slog, I reply, could explain why according to Van Erp’s research and several other sporting and non-sporting studies, women can tolerate higher levels of pain. Let’s flick back to Van Erp’s study briefly. He mentioned that the women race at a higher intensity. This was reflected in their average heart rates, which corresponded to 79 per cent of their maximum compared to 69 per cent for the men. Despite the women working harder, on the rating of perceived exertion scale, that runs from six to 20, both men and women perceived the effort at the same intensity – 15.4.
It’s mooted that the menstrual cycle and childbirth are two key events that bolster a women’s physical resilience. There’s also research that suggests men remember their pain differently; that women forget while men don’t. It’s a footnote but does highlight that beyond Van Erp and Menaspa’s research, there’s scope to better understand the female rider. There’s hormonal evidence that the first half of the cycle will maximise highintensity exercise, for example, and aid digestion and recovery, while the second half enables women to metabolise fat more efficiently so is perfect for longer sessions. There’s also a growing belief that if women strength train in the first half of their cycle, they enjoy greater adaptation.
What does the future hold? “For training, things will become even more precise, for both women and men,” says Vestby. “As for women’s cycling as a whole, it’ll become more about team tactics and the depth of fields will continue to grow.” Like the men’s, in fact. Just don’t train like them.
“B efore I met my husband, I used to do stupid things like skip meals and think that was the way to get leaner" Lizzie Deignan, Trek- Segafredo