Base Training Mixed with Racing – the Secret to Success?
Over the past few years, riders like Tom Pidcock, Mathieu van der Poel, and Wout van Aert have become the center of debate about traditional base training versus a mix of training and racing cyclocross. All three riders have found incredible success on the road, while still being very successful at cyclocross (not to mention MTB). As a result, this article will take a deep dive into a more traditional base period versus a base period mixed with cyclocross racing.
For this comparison, I am using Michal Kwiatkowski and Wout van Aert. Both riders have achieved success in the spring classics, while preparing for them in different ways. Kwiatkowski utilizes a base period leading into early season racing in February before hitting the classics in March. Van Aert uses a slightly different approach as he mixes cyclocross races into his base period before ramping up his road campaign in March.
Unfortunately, the pandemic has made direct comparisons over the past few seasons nearly impossible. However, if we look at their results in general, we can see that both riders have found success. In virtually any spring one-day race they enter, they can both be considered a favorite. Combined, they have won five monuments along with seven other major one-day spring races.
“Traditional” Base Period and a Cyclocross Season
“Traditional” Base Training
Periodization has been a staple of a cyclists training plan for decades. The idea is that a season is broken down into macrocycles, mesocycles and microcycles. A macrocycle refers to an entire year or season of training and competition. It’s made up of eight to twelve mesocycles consisting of four to six week blocks. Each of those blocks are broken down into weeks. Each week makes up a microcycle.
In a more traditional model the first mesocycle of each season is a base period, followed by a build period and then a race period that may include a peak. With the cycling season lasting from late January through early October, a pro cyclists base period is often November, December and January. Depending on a riders schedule, they may transition into a build period that includes some racing in late January.
The base period is often thought of as weeks of nothing but long, steady, rides in the endurance zone. Generally, riders complete three to four six-hour rides with a few shorter days mixed in. Each week, riders increase the length and frequency of the rides in order to build further adaptations. While this more traditional model still exists, modern training methods have shown this type of a base period isn’t necessary to maximize physical adaptations. Many riders will mix in efforts and significantly more structure during the base period.
A Cyclocross Season
The cyclocross season begins in mid-September and concludes at the end of February. For riders who mix road and cross, their season often takes a slightly different shape. More recently, riders such as Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel started racing cross in late November. They’ll often race through the World Championships, at the end of January.
This compact version of the season accomplished three things. First, it allows riders a bit of break as they transition into cross season. It also allows them to ramp things up after Worlds so they’re ready for the classics, which start at the end of February. Finally, it allows them to race frequently, especially during the Kerstperiode where riders can race almost every other day for two weeks.
A Detailed Dive: Kwiatkowski (Base) vs Van Aert (Race)
Taking the “traditional” base period and comparing it to a base period with cyclocross racing provides interesting insights into the similarities of the training load and output. For this analysis, I compared Michal Kwiatkowski’s training to Wout van Aert’s. The data was pulled from Strava, but neither rider publicly shares their power. Because of that, I can’t truly analyze the intensity of their rides, but I can still look at them from a time and distance perspective and glean some insights.
As I previously mentioned, the more traditional base period for World Tour cyclists is November through January. For Wout van Aert, his cyclocross season began in December and went to mid-January. This overlapping period is interesting because Kwiatkowski maintains a more traditional base, while Van Aert mixes in endurance rides with the high intensity of cyclocross racing and training.
A 10,000 Foot View of Training Load for November – January
Michal Kwiatkowski
As you can see, Kwiatkowski ended his season in early October (after Paris-Roubaix). After a break, he slowly began training again. He started with a short transition period, then began his build period on November, 8th 2021. From there he rapidly increases his volume.
Wout van Aert
Like Kwiatkowski, Wout van Aert ended his season after Paris-Roubaix. He also took a short break, began training again. After the transition period, van Aert begins his build period on November, 1st 2021 and increases his volume from there. This is a week earlier than Kwiatkowski and the build is much quicker due to van Aert beginning cross racing in December.
A Monthly Overview of Base Training Volume
November, 2021
| Hours | Miles | Ft. Climbed | |
|---|---|---|---|
Kwiatkowski | 71h 38m | 1,187.2mi | 17,802ft |
Van Aert | 91h 31m | 1,706.9mi | 31,242ft |
December, 2021
| Hours | Miles | Ft. Climbed | |
|---|---|---|---|
Kwiatkowski | 94h 53m | 1,737.4mi | 65,541ft |
Van Aert | 76h 41m | 1,385.7mi | 71,032ft |
January, 2022
Hours | Miles | Ft. Climbed | |
|---|---|---|---|
Kwiatkowski | 95h 24m | 1,750.3mi | 129,580ft |
Van Aert | 81h 19m | 1,496.2mi | 90,684ft |
Looking at the hours on the bike, you can see an inverse relationship based on their goals. Van Aert was aiming to build a base after a brief transition, but needed it to be big because he was aiming to race in December and January. Cyclocross racing is all about recovery and you actually lose fitness as the season progresses. That’s why cross racers will take a mid-season break and do a mini training camp to build up their aerobic fitness.
Kwiatkowski is not planning to race until February. Therefore, he is slowly building his base up and has less hours in November than Van Aert. As you can see, Kwiatkowski continues to build his base with 20 more hours in December than Van Aert. However, within these blocks he is adding some intensity, rather than the old school method of riding all day at endurance pace.
For Van Aert, there’s a dip in December because of the racing. However, he increases his volume in January to build his base for the road season. With that said, Van Aert still has more hours in December than a typical cyclocross racer. For example, David van der Poel had 55 hours on the bike in December.
Taking a broader look, Kwiatkowski and Van Aert end up with a similar total time on the bike for the base season. In fact, if you look at the week of Nov. 22 – Nov. 28, 2021, both riders put in a big block, totalling nearly 25 hours.
Deeper Dive
If we look at the second weekend in December, you’ll see that Van Aert was about to begin a big block of racing. Kwiatkowski completed a massive block at a team camp in Spain. Despite the different objectives, both riders did a combination of endurance, interval and easy rides.
Activities for Dec 6, 2021 – Dec 12, 2021
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
Kwiatkowski | Endurance | Endurance | Endurance | Endurance | Recovery | Endurance | Endurance |
Van Aert | Easy | Endurance | Endurance | Endurance | Easy | Race | Race |
Despite having a doble weekend with a race in Essen and a World Cup in Italy, Van Aert put in three straight days of 4 – 5 hour endurance rides. As previously mentioned, Kwiatkowski spent the week at a team training camp in Spain. Even though he put in 11 hours more than Van Aert, he mixed in some intensity. For example, Kwiatkowski spent nearly 20% of a 5-hour ride at tempo. In other rides that week, he mixed in some threshold work. While Van Aerts (race) efforts were well above Kwiatkowski’s, both riders are mixing intensity with endurance and some rest.
Which Approach is Better?
As with virtually everything in sports science and training, the answer is – it depends! For top level pros, it’s obviously a combination of the desire to race cross as well as the exposure (i.e. money) it provides. Both van Aert and Kwiatkowski have the advantage of things like altitude camps, team support and the ability to travel to Spain for a week in between blocks of racing.
Obviously, for the working man, this just doesn’t fly.
From a personal perspective, it’s a no-brainer that even the most traditional base period should feature some intensity. In my area, the road season starts in March and ends in early September. Cyclocross season runs from September to early December. Therefore, there is no need to combine both base and cyclocross. You can race a full road and cyclocross season, with a decent break and base period. For me, my base would start in January and I would slowly build to begin racing in late March/early April. Then, there would be a break in late July/early August (a summer vacation is a great idea) before ramping up for cross. Then, take a nice break after Nationals in December.
Seriously, What’s the Answer?
As I mentioned, in the mid-Atlantic region, there really is no way to truly race year round like you can in Europe. While you can find races in late February and early March, cyclocross simply stops in December.
However, my personal opinion would be to mix in some racing during base training. If you love cyclocross, then I would do a series of race blocks spread throughout the season. This is what van Aert did and it’s the most logical/practical. You spend two weeks building a huge base, then a mixed week of base and cross workouts followed by a weekend or two of racing. Rinse and repeat.
One could also do this with Zwift racing. I experimented with this idea earlier this year. Unfortunately, I got sucked into some extended blocks of racing, but once I got going in April, I could feel the advantages of racing. In general, the idea was similar. Build my base throughout the week and weekend, with one Zwift race a week. In general it looked like this:
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
Easy | Race | Endurance | Endurance | Off | Endurance | Endurance |
I would throw in some micro intervals on Thursday, but generally kept it at an endurance pace.
No matter what, it is clear that you need to mix some intensity in with your base training. Racing cross or Zwift is a great way to do this, but 1-2 days of threshold work also does wonders.