The Deceuninck – Quick-Step team have recently completed a training camp in Val di Fassa in the Dolomites to prepare for the restart of the season. The mountainous terrain obviously provided ideal training ground for the climbers, but the team also focused on specific training for their sprinters, including Sam Bennett and Fabio Jakobsen.
In addition to the regular, longer training rides, the team worked on their sprinters and lead-out riders to improve their explosiveness and top-end speed of the sprinters with sessions including motor-pacing, 30-second intervals, simulated sprints and strength exercises in the gym.
The team’s riders and staff now have a couple of days to recover from the training camp before traveling to different parts in Europe for their first post-coronavirus races: Vuelta a Burgos, Strade Bianche and the Heistse Pijl.
Sam Bennett has expressed his satisfaction about his time in Val di Fassa: “It was definitely one of the most enjoyable altitude camps I ever did”, he said. “It felt like the quickest one too as time flew by. Val di Fassa is a fantastic place and the roads and sceneries are truly amazing. I’m sure you could do great hikes here if you have the time. All in all, it was a fantastic camp and we did some great work here that hopefully will stand to us in the coming weeks.”
The Irish National Champion is due to start the Vuelta a Burgos which starts next week (Tuesday 28th of July) and will then race at the VOO-Tour de Wallonie in mid-August before lining up at the start of the Tour de France in Nice on the 29th of August.
Zdenek Stybar also spoke about the camp. “First of all, it was great to see everyone again in Val di Fassa. It’s always nice to train together. It’s been quite a tough training camp, good in terms of both quality and quantity. Everybody was enthusiastic about the roads and the climbs. It’s been nice to discover new places too. We’re in good shape now and ready to start the second part of the season. We’re thrilled to finally be back!”
