In the never-ending search for marginal gains, Team Sky has partnered with an Australian start-up to receive rider analytics and coaching software that will help the WorldTour team achieve its performance goals.
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We’ve already written about Today’s Plan, and came away impressed with the concept behind the cloud-based training software, which launched at the start of 2015. The aim is to provide an affordable alternative to one-on-one coaching, but it's also been used by WorldTour team Trek-Segafredo to tailor its riders’ programmes.
The next real advantage
Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford said: ”I believe the next real advantage will come not from which team can acquire the most information, but from which team can best put the insights gained from that information into practice — day to day, week after week. This partnership with Today’s Plan will give Team Sky that advantage.
"Successfully and efficiently sharing that information with coaches, the Sports Directors, performance staff and riders will drive improvements, both now and in the future."
IT knowhow + proven training techniques
When we looked at Today’s Plan we were impressed at the way it combined IT knowhow with proven training techniques. The mobile app can turn your smartphone into a very capable bike computer, and can translate much of the data generated into easy-to-understand metrics and graphs.
Being cloud-based, it also lets you access data from previous rides on any device. We also liked the ability to get a custom Today’s Plan app on devices like the Garmin Forerunner 920XT sports watch.
Pricing starts at £4.95 / US$7.95 / AU$9.95 per month for the analytics alone (annual subscriptions bring the price down further), or £14.95 / US$23.95 / AU$29.95 for a six week training plan. Other training plans lasting 8/10/12/16 weeks are also available.
For more information head to www.todaysplan.com.au.