BROADCASTS.com

b"What exactly does it take to race the Tour \\u2014 physiologically, mentally, spiritually. Each day these phenomenal athletes race an event that would shatter most of us in just one day. But then they also have to contend with answering reporters questions, pleasing sponsors, transferring between hotels, trying to eat enough food to cover the day\\u2019s expenditures, and, finally and perhaps most importantly, trying to get quality sleep.\\n\\nIt\\u2019s a feat that\\u2019s hard to comprehend, so today we'll try to give a sense of what it takes to race the Tour. We\\u2019ll cover:\\n\\nFirst, an overview of the Tour from a numbers perspective, and why the numbers really don\\u2019t tell the tale.\\n\\nOur guest, Ciaran O\\u2019Grady will explain his role as a Tour team physiologist and coach.\\n\\nThe many challenges of the Tour outside of racing, including not only what I mentioned above, but also not missing the bus, handling the food, and what happens when you get sick.\\n\\nWhy getting dropped by the peloton doesn\\u2019t make for as easy a day as you might think.\\n\\nWhat happens to the riders physiologically over the three weeks and why, in essence, it\\u2019s just a controlled burnout.How riders try to recover day-to-day, especially when they\\u2019re dealing with injuries.\\n\\nHow riders train for the Tour and why having incredible endurance comes first. Then we\\u2019ll take a deeper dive into how the different types of riders prepare, from GC contenders to stage hunters and domestiques.\\n\\nFinally, we\\u2019ll try to pull all this together and talk about what mere mortals should and shouldn\\u2019t take from Tour riders, whether we\\u2019re preparing for a weekend race or a three-day stage race.\\n\\nOur primary guest today is Ciaran O\\u2019Grady, one of the team physiologists for the Dimension Data WorldTour team.\\n\\nAlong with Ciaran, we catch up with one of our favorite guests, Brent Bookwalter of Mitchelton-Scott. Brent has now completed nine grand tours, so he had a lot to say about what it\\u2019s like getting through 23 grueling days.\\n\\nWe also talked with Houshang Amiri, a former Canadian National and Olympic coach who runs the Pacific Cycling Centre. He\\u2019s coached Tour athletes and had a few thoughts to share on getting athletes ready for a grand tour.\\n\\nSo, get your bidons and your musettes and your baguettes and your crepes, let's make you fast!"