Mark Donovan
The week: 7-13 May 2021
Location: Andorra
Training for: Boucles de la Mayenne
Having joined Team Sunweb (now DSM) shortly before the world was plunged into a pandemic, Mark Donovan’s Worldtour career got off to a very strange start.
Just a few months later, having hardly raced, he found himself fully in the deep end, first at the Critérium du Dauphiné, then a flurry of rescheduled Classics, and finally the Vuelta. He fared extraordinarily well under the circumstances, particularly at the Vuelta where he bagged two top-five stage placings. Looking ahead to the more orderly 2021 summer season, the 22-year-old Cumbrian is one to watch.
Before taking up cycling you were a fell runner?
Quite a while ago, but yes, up to the age of 14. I had to stop because of a problem with my heels, something called Sever’s disease, affecting the growth plates in the feet. I started cycling as something nonweight-bearing to do while I couldn’t run, and it went from there.
Your excellent results last autumn suggest you coped well during the spring/summer lockdown?
I’d just moved to Andorra when it kicked off. It was pretty rough because I like riding my bike, being outside and exploring, but I hate the turbo – I just can’t face it! I basically switched off from being a professional cyclist, and after a while drove back to the UK to stay with my family in the Lake District. I realised that racing was three months away and so really just chilled out, whereas I think some guys maybe did too much too early.
Do you see yourself as a climbing specialist?
Yes and no. I mean, I’m not a pure climber like some of the Colombians and 55kg guys – I’m mid to high-60s, so they’ve got 15kg on me. But yeah, it’s where most of my strengths lie, though I’m good at the quite short stuff too, so I’m trying to do a bit of everything really.
You’ve followed the pro trend of moving to Andorra – how’s that suiting you?
Yeah, it’s been good; it seems to work well for me. I also still share a place with a friend in Girona, so I go there when I want to relax, and come up here when I want to crack on and train. I mean it’s hard, really hard here – the roads are all up and down, and then there’s the altitude. My apartment is at almost 2,000 metres.
Has it felt like a big leap up to Worldtour level?
I still enjoy riding my bike – I like what I do, so it’s never really that much of a chore. Occasionally you have to say to yourself, ‘OK, I’m getting paid for this’ when it’s raining or whatever. The racing is definitely a big step up – as they always say, it doesn’t get easier as you get fitter, you just go faster. I’ve been pleasantly surprised, though, as I feel like I’ve made a pretty decent step on, especially given that last year was a bit of a funny season.
FRIDAY LONG RIDE WITH CLIMB EFFORTS
I’d come up to Andorra a week earlier and spent a few days acclimatising, so this was the first day with some efforts. It was five hours’ general endurance riding with three times 20-minute moderate climbing efforts at 300-330w.
SATURDAY AM: EASY ENDURANCE RIDE PM: STRENGTH WORK
Saturday was three hours, just easy. Especially at altitude it’s important to make sure this type of ride is genuinely easy. I’m terrible for pressing on a bit too much; my trainer is continually reminding me to keep below a certain power and heart rate. It can feel like you’re creeping along on the climbs, but I’m supposed to keep below 285w. It’s good to take it really easy on days like this so that when the day comes you should be pressing on, you’re ready for it. In the afternoon I did some strength training – I have a basic gym setup in my garage – just a few squats, deadlifts and split-squats.
SUNDAY LONG ENDURANCE RIDE
Sunday was a long endurance ride with a group of team-mates who were here for a training camp. It was supposed to be six hours but we ended up doing seven. It’s always good to ride in a group sometimes, and it stops me pressing on too much. It was just a standard easy ride, keeping the power in the endurance zone.
MONDAY REST DAY
Monday was meant to be an easy day for recovery, so I had the day off. It can be better for the head to have a full day off.
TUESDAY AM: EASY TURBO RIDE PM: EASY ENDURANCE RIDE
Tuesday was supposed to be 4.5 hours with some efforts, but when I woke up it was chucking down with snow, so I had to make some adjustments. I got on the turbo for the first time in ages and just did 90 minutes of easy spinning – nothing above 200w. I cranked up the heat, though, making it feel a bit harder than it was. By the afternoon it had stopped snowing, so at around 4pm I did a three-hour easy ride, just a nice evening spin – I quite enjoy riding later in the day. A day that looked like a write-off initially was pretty decent in the end.
WEDNESDAY ENDURANCE RIDE
Today was a four-hour ride with the option to do some efforts. Knowing that tomorrow was going to be a big day, I agreed with my trainer to just keep it steady today – below 300w and just spinning away. I had company today, whereas if I’m doing efforts I generally prefer to do them on my own at my own speed. Also, being here, it can crack you riding with someone – for instance, if they’re having a really good day and you’re not. On a 30-minute climb, there’s no hiding!
THURSDAY LONG RIDE WITH CLIMB EFFORTS
This was the end of a pretty big week, split into two three-day blocks. I’d done quite a few hours by this point.
Today was five hours with 4,000 metres of climbing, pressing on the climbs.
The biggest effort was a 50-minute climb, which I did as eight times five minutes with a minute in between.
The climb rose from 800 to 2,000 metres, so altitude was a factor too.
I did around 370w for the first few efforts, and around 280w for the recoveries. The average for the 50 minutes was about 350w – a pretty solid effort. After that, I did some Zone 3 climbing work, and my average normalised power for the whole ride was 276w.