Why VO2max training matters for older or late-starter athletes

Stephen Barrett is a cycling coach from Ireland, working as the head coach of the UCI WorldTour team Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, and coaching several of the riders on the team personally, including GC contender Felix Gall. In this interview we discuss the inner workings of a WorldTour team, and a lot of nuts and bolts training topics right from the top of the world of professional cycling.  

HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY TOPICS: 

• Stephen's training principles and coaching methodology
• Periodisation strategies and training through race blocks
• Tapering for important one-day races like the classics and for Grand Tours
• The importance of VO2max-training
• Indoor training, altitude training, training for durability, torque training, and more...
• Advice for amateur cyclists and triathletes
• The coaching structure in Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, and Stephen's role as head coach
• The development pathway from U19 to U23 to WorldTour 

DETAILED EPISODE SHOWNOTES: 

• We have detailed shownotes for all of our episodes. The shownotes are basically the podcast episode in written form, that you can read in 5-10 minutes. They are not transcriptions, but they are also not just surface-level overviews. They provide detailed insights and timestamps for each episode, and are great especially for later review, after you've already listened to an episode. 
• The shownotes for today's episode can be found at https://scientifictriathlon.com/672/

LINKS AND RESOURCES: 

• Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale website, Instagram, and Youtube
• Including sprint training in cycling – training responses and peformance improvements with Nicki Winfield Almquist, PhD | EP#300
• Tour de Physiology: The Exceptional Power Outputs and VO2 of Climbing in the Tour de France - Ole Kristian Berg 2025
• Pebbles of Perception: How a Few Good Choices make All the Difference - book by Laurence Endersen

WHAT SHOULD I LISTEN TO NEXT?

If you enjoyed this episode, I think you'll love the following episodes:

• Anna Kiesenhofer – Olympic Champion | EP#454
• Luca Zenti – UAE Team ADQ coach on Tour de France Femmes and bike training for triathletes | EP#469
• John Wakefield of Red Bull BORA hansgrohe – cycling coach and bike fitter | EP#465
• Dajo Sanders, PhD | EP#384

You can find our full episode archives here, where you can filter for categories such as Training, Racing, Science & Physiology, Swimming, Cycling, Running etc.

You can also find separate archives for specific series of episodes I've done, specifically Q&A episodes, TTS Thursday episodes, and Beginner Tips episodes. 

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