Train with Marco Pinotti and Matteo Carrara

Train with Marco Pinotti and Matteo Carrara

New UK camp to give insight into pro cycling training secrets


Italian pro cyclists Marco Pinotti (BMC), known for his fastidious attention to detail and staunch anti-doping outlook, and Matteo Carrara, who retired at the end of 2012, will be imparting their training insights at a mini camp in Sussex, UK, from 12-14 April 2013.

The camp – a mixture of good quality training rides and technical seminars with the Italian pair – is designed to help attendees understand how pro riders live and train.

The weekend will include two rides on the Saturday, and a 4-5 hour uptempo ride on Sunday. Pinotti and Carrara will ride with the groups. On Saturday evening there’ll be a technical seminar on interpreting heart rate, power, rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and lactate test data. The Italians will also give a presentation on life as professionals.

The camp, organised by Cadence Performance, costs £499 if booked before 24 March. The cost includes full board, sports nutrition and a massage at the four star hotel, plus a physiological test ahead of the weekend. To book a place visit www.cadenceperformance.com.

Pinotti, who started career training with a heart rate monitor, told BikeRadar that power meters had revolutionised professionals’ training regimes:

“When I started as a pro in 1999, power meters were already around but only being used by about 25 percent of the riders and only in training. I only got the chance to try a power meter in 2007 but after a couple of months and reading books about how to the get the most out of it, I realised I should have started using one earlier.

Cadence Performance hope to repeat the event later in the year with another pro, Johnny Hoogerland, famed for becoming tangled in a barbed wire fence after being hit by a TV car at the 2011 Tour de France.