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Training Dan Atherton for Enduro
Alan Milway reveals the steps he took to get Dan Atherton ready for Enduro racing.
Written by Red Bull UK
6 min readPublished on
Dan Atherton endures the French Alps
Dan Atherton endures the French Alps© [unknown]
Once upon a time, mountain bike races involved riding as fast as you could around forests or fields in loops. In the UK this was the only discipline on offer to the MTB racer. Gradually races started to take place from the highest point back down to the pits, but these were still on the same bikes that had been raced around the full loop the day before.
This was the inception of downhill racing in the UK, and its expansion has been vast, and a clear split has developed between Cross Country and Downhill. Not just in the athletes, but also the training, equipment and venues. There is now another discipline emerging that bridges the gap somewhat between Downhill and Cross Country. It is called Enduro.
Dan Atherton on the rocks
Dan Atherton on the rocks© [unknown]
Essentially, it’s a stage race format; multiple stages across 1-2 days, where only portions of the riding are timed. The ‘liaisons’ between the timed stages are not raced, but ground must be covered within a time limit to meet a specific start time.
This year saw the inaugural Enduro World Series, which looked to codify this ‘new’ discipline and bring together the world's best racers to compete across the globe on a variety of terrain and within this generalised format.
Dan Atherton has been an international downhill racer, an international 4 cross racer, a BMX racer and is now focusing full time on Enduro. As we sat down last winter to plan his training for this discipline there were a lot of questions as to how best prepare for this new, somewhat unique discipline.
Dan attacks the snowless Alpine slopes
Dan attacks the snowless Alpine slopes© [unknown]
The first thing anyone should do when planning their training is work out what they need to be able to do to meet the demands of their sport. This is commonly called a ‘needs analysis’ in coaching circles and looks to pinpoint the qualities required and will direct training. On top of this you have the athlete to consider. How do they fit into this sport and what are the strong or weak areas they possess that will help or hinder them?
What was fascinating was a meeting I had with a physiologist at The University of Birmingham following some testing with Dan and Gee after our first block of training. He was looking through the data we had gathered and it was clear one of them had the ‘engine’ with huge potential for endurance based exercise, the other had a ridiculous power to weight ratio.
This was really encouraging for me as these brothers were well physically suited to their chosen disciplines and our first block of training was certainly focused on the right areas!
Dan Atherton navigates an Alpine mountain pass
Dan Atherton navigates an Alpine mountain pass© [unknown]
Enduro combines multiple downhill runs into a day, with what can be a large volume of riding to get to each stage. Some events call for much more endurance capability, others are basically 4 downhill races in a day. How do you cover all bases and what do you target to be ‘fit’ for Enduro?
As Dan has come from a downhill and BMX / 4 cross background he has a huge amount of ‘punch’ and can ride at 100% for longer than most. However, this level of output and power comes with a cost and that is eventual fatigue and a big drop off when you reach your exhaustion point.
This was the biggest challenge for Dan - to ride at a little under this max effort and realize that if paced correctly he could go on and on and on. If you have a dog that hasn’t been walked for days and then take it out on a lead you will have some idea of what it was like to go on a training road ride with Dan! I used some tools of the trade to help him – we set heart rate and power targets to stick to. These were virtual guides (or even barriers) to his effort and kept him in the range I needed, so that he could go the durations I’d programmed. This started to build the endurance that hasn’t been such a focus before.
Gradually we worked on increasing the efforts he could hold for specific amounts of time. Alongside this I was working with Gee and his training had some very different areas, but as Dan was so strong and powerful we wanted to keep this as an advantage. Why not play to his strengths? And who better for him to train with than one of the world's most powerful athletes on a mountain bike?! So I mix some sessions together as I believe I can get more out of them together than always to split them apart. Seeing each of them push and inspire the next to raise the bar is great to be around.
Boulder dash Dan
Boulder dash Dan© [unknown]
The first round of Enduro World Series was always going to be an exciting time, as racers from a wide background travelled to Italy to race. I felt I had to go to learn first hand what was happening; the challenges to the event and what I needed to alter for future races. I was amazed at the intensity of the racing across such a long event, and also the risks taken. This was not a case of being able to put together 5 or 6 solid stages and win. You had to go all out for every second against the clock and keep it up.
It also showed some of the logistical challenges to Enduro as some riders are able to visit the venue ahead of time and learn their way, where others have to ride it with only a couple of sighting runs first. The event was all pedal powered with no uplift, and at the end of the 2 days of racing Dan finished 5th. A great start to the season and motivating that we were on the right track.
No margin for error on the tight racing line
No margin for error on the tight racing line© [unknown]
As the season progressed Dan fought for stage wins and podium places, on a variety of tracks; the shortest stages being only a few minutes, the longest 20mins or more! Unfortunately his season was curtailed by a shoulder injury. He battled to continue but following discussion with myself and Red Bull’s performance manager Darren Roberts, we decided that the best thing was to return to UK for surgery and to address the problem head on so he could heal properly and not risk further injury.
In true Dan Atherton style he is working diligently to rehabilitate this now, and we are looking forward to re-igniting the attack on Enduro wins in 2014.
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