{"id":179418,"date":"2020-09-14T12:06:10","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T12:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=179418"},"modified":"2020-09-17T14:13:44","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T14:13:44","slug":"team-sunwebs-matt-winston-reveals-what-it-means-to-be-a-cycling-coach-at-the-tour-de-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/09\/14\/team-sunwebs-matt-winston-reveals-what-it-means-to-be-a-cycling-coach-at-the-tour-de-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Team Sunweb\u2019s Matt Winston Reveals What It Means to Be a Cycling Coach at the Tour de France"},"content":{"rendered":"

Behind all the thrill and the glamour of winning moments we mostly see of the Tour onscreen, there\u2019s hard work, staff dedication and routine. Team Sunweb did a short behind-the-curtain Tour de France video of the crew getting ready before the day\u2019s stage and Matt Winston, Team Sunweb\u2019s coach, was kind enough to give us more details. We\u2019ve caught up with Mr Winston on Monday\u2019s rest day after Stage 9 of the Tour, right in the middle of it all. As one can guess, \u2018rest day\u2019 being quite the euphemism in the life of a pro-cycling coach.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n

At the start of the video, you can notice Pim Heemskerk, the team\u2019s mechanic, laying down the basics of the team\u2019s usual morning routine. We are then greeted by Matt Winston from one of the \u0160koda team cars<\/a> that spend the entirety of the Tour stages following the riders, acting as a mobile counselling, mechanical workshop and support. Matt joined Team Sunweb fairly recently, in 2019, as a race coach. Prior to this, Matt coached the junior national team of British cycling for eight years and also was Head Coach for the UK-based ONE Pro Cycling Team.<\/p>\n

That must\u2019ve been quite the career change of pace, which was our first question for Mr Winston. \u201cI\u2019ve worked with another team after the [British Cycling] Federation but it was not a World Tour team at this level so, yeah, it\u2019s quite different. There are a lot more races and the races are also bigger and more high-pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

A team coach also drives the team car. What we wanted to know is how does one learn to drive so carefully within the crowd of cyclists and among all the other vehicles? \u201cIt\u2019s experience. Only on the big races, we have two coaches in the car. On other races, there\u2019s only one coach who drives and talks on the radio. On races like the Tour de France, there\u2019s a lot more motorbikes and spectators so we have someone focusing just on the driving and another person focusing on the race and the tactics. Most people who drive the cars have been cyclists, we all ride a bike, so we can guess where the riders are going to go and we can lead the car in a good way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no shortage of excitement or accidents at the Tour. What\u2019s the craziest occurrence Matt witnessed from the team car? Turns out it\u2019s pretty recent. \u201cI think yesterday was the most exciting Tour experience I\u2019ve had. Mark Hirschi (Sunweb) was in a breakaway for 85 kilometres alone and he was caught with two kilometres to go and, still sprinting, he came in the third place. That was a hectic and a busy day but also quite exciting all the way to the finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team cars and their crew have to be ready for whatever might befall the riders and as such are perfectly stocked. As Matt told us:\u201d We have eight riders in the race and we have one bike for each rider on the roof. We always have two cars and each carries eight spare bikes. In total, each rider has three bikes per the whole race and each car carries eight.\u201d Not only such preparations make the Tour one of the bussiest races of the season but how does it stand compared to the likes of La Vuelta<\/a> or Giro d\u2019Italia<\/a>? \u201cThere are more media and TV motorbikes but even races like Giro can be pretty hectic. Basically, it\u2019s not about the race but the route of the day. It might be lots of hills and rain or big roads and flats where things are more relaxed. Any race can be really hectic; it depends on the conditions and on the course.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team coach in the car often has to make decisions in split second and mid-race. What\u2019s the toughest one that comes to mind Matt had to make recently? \u201cThat was probably a few days ago in what was supposed to be a sprint stage, and our sprinter was dropped early in the race so we decided the whole team should wait, to try to pace him back. They weren\u2019t successful, which means all of our team is behind in the race and it\u2019s not easy to make that decision. You only have about five, ten seconds to make it, to think very quickly about all the options you have. If it works, everyone is really happy; if it doesn\u2019t, not so much. \u2018What do we want to achieve?\u2019 We want to win. So yeah, we have to gamble.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Team
Soren Kragh Andersen celebrates with teammates after winning the 14th stage of the Tour. \u00a9 EPA-EFE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One has to think of their mental wellbeing after being exposed to such a long period of pressure. When asked how Matt unwinds during and after Le Tour, a bicycle was strongly present. \u201cI try to ride the bike a little bit in the morning before the race, sometimes for an hour, if it\u2019s time. After this Tour, I have to go directly to the Giro. I will drive from Paris to Sicily so maybe I\u2019ll take one week to do the drive, take it easy, and spend some time riding a bike in Tuscany and Sicily before the next race, as a little vacation. Normally, I try to take a few-day holidays after a Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thank you for your time again, Matt.<\/p>\n

Do you root for Team Sunweb or do you have other favourites in the La Grande Boucle?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Behind all the thrill and the glamour of winning moments we mostly see of the Tour onscreen, there\u2019s hard work, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":179421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[3622,4202,4404,4150,433],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-179418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","tag-2020-tour-de-france","tag-cycling-coach","tag-matt-winston","tag-team-sunweb","tag-tour-de-france","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nSunweb\u2019s Matt Winston Reveals What It Means to Be a Cycling Coach<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Team Sunweb did a short behind-the-curtain Tour de France video of the crew getting ready before the day\u2019s stage. 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