Written by Nate Wilson, this recent article from TrainingPeaks details Will Barta’s rise from National Team Junior to Pro Tour rider. It’s a rise through the ranks that isn’t all that common – believe it or not – as countless juniors quit school, jump straight into 30-hour weeks, and end up flaming up in just a few years. From the perspective of his coach, Wilson, Barta’s rise to the Pro Tour was smart, consistent, and focused on longevity rather than immediate results – It’s a long article, so I provided a summary below, with a few key takeaways, and a little bit of compare and contrast between myself and Barta (just for fun).
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From 2015 to 2018, Will Barta went from riding in the junior ranks to competing in the World Tour. He rode for the Pro Continental team Axeon in between, and competed in such races as US Pro Nationals, Tour of Utah, and Tour of California. He also spent a number of months living and racing in Europe, often with the US National Team. When he first got the call from Axel Merckx to join Axeon in 2015, Barta became a professional cyclist – he was all-in.
Nate Wilson – Barta’s coach – identified a number of key physiological abilities a U23 rider needs to be successful in Europe:
- 20 minutes at 5.5 to 5.8 W/Kg after 3000 kJ – minimum for a top-10 on a summit finish
- [Zach Nehr: 350 – 370 W]
- Race weight: 138.6 – 140.8 lbs. (63 – 64 kg)
- 4 hours at 4 W/Kg with less than 5% heart rate drift = the gold standard for general aerobic capacity at the U23 European level
- [Zach Nehr: 250 – 260 W]
- Drift example: 140 bpm to 147 bpm = 5% drift
- 300 hours in the period from Nov. 1 to Feb. 28.
- [Zach Nehr, 2018-2019: 145 hours (11/1 – 12/31) + 167 hours (1/1 – 2/28 is the plan) = 312 hours]
- 300 hours in 120 days (17 weeks) = average of 17.6 hours/week
- The ability to be dynamic under fatigue (i.e. Repeatability, and the ability to perform under stress) is difficult to quantify. Wilson tracked this my measuring Barta’s ability to access power over threshold after 2500 kJ of work.
- [Zach Nehr, Green Mountain Stage Race Stage 3 2018: 365 W for 12.5 minutes after ~3000 kJs of work]
This is not meant to be me seeking some sort of validation, trying to prove myself to strangers, or saying that I deserve a spot in the World Tour. This is meant to be a fun comparison. I’m a ‘numbers guy’, and I found it both fun (my definition of “fun” is weird sometimes) and fascinating to go back and look at my past performances, not necessarily my peak 10 or 20-minute power outputs, but my performance under fatigue – what is my performance like under heavy training load, under a serious amount of stress, or at the end of a long, hard road race? Now I have the answer – from 2018 at least. The goal for 2019 is to be even better, faster, and stronger.
Mistakes
#1: Overtraining: when Barta felt good, he often pushed too hard in training. He would dig himself into a hole without even realizing it. This affected his 2015 season, when he and his coach decided that a period of rest in June was needed. While it must have been frustrating at the time – resting while your peers are hitting peak form – it was the smart thing to do in the long-run, and helped Barta recover from a period of overtraining and minor injury.
#2: Over-racing: it’s basically the same idea here. Barta hit out hard in April 2017, but raced too much and dug himself into a hole that he couldn’t get out of in time for later-season races such as the Tour of Utah and U23 World Championships.
Physiological Changes
Training affects your racing and racing affects your training. Over the years, Barta worked on certain aspects of training at different times. He first focused on building his aerobic engine, then on tempo intervals and accelerations, and then finally on threshold work. This was over a 2-3 year period, meaning that there was no rush to push Barta in training – the “everything but the kitchen sink” training plan – would could lead to overtraining, burnout, or injury.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Barta admits that for a while, he was too focused on being a skinny climber, and at other times a domestique. In reality, he was suited to all types of racing – punchy classics, prologue time trials, and even mountainous stage races. Wilson admits that he never focused on Barta’s time-trialing ability. Instead, the TT results came as a result of self-belief, overall fitness, and consistent training. Specifically, Barta focused on strength and mental focus on the TT bike, position optimization through aerodynamic testing, equipment optimization, and course breakdown (something that I’ve already wrote about extensively – check out the archives to learn more about course recon).
Wilson talks about the “Tired 20”, or one’s peak 20-minute power produced after 2500+ kJ of work. This is what wins you races. This is what separates the good from the great. 20-minute power records are nice, but it’s what you can produce on a summit finish, 4 hours into a race with tons of fatigue in your legs, that will separate you from the pack.
Base Miles?
Barta “only” did 283 and 288 hours from November 1st – to February 28th going into the 2016 and 2017 seasons, respectively. By my calculations (17 weeks), that’s an average of less than 17 hours per week. What happened to 35-hour weeks of winter base miles?? The physiology behind ‘why’ is enough for another five articles – or five whole books – but the key takeaway here is that training is individual. Some people do better with high volume, some with high intensity, and of course, many do well with a mixture of both. I’ve always felt better when I continue to do intervals throughout December and January, whereas some riders won’t touch anything above Zone 2 until March. Everyone is different, and it doesn’t take 30-hour weeks to get to the World Tour – this is a finding that actually surprised me.
Key Takeaways
In a few words, the goal of each and every season should be improved general capacity (i.e. fitness), “improved robustness, consistency, and ability to absorb load throughout the season.” – Wilson. This means training hard, but not too hard. Racing plenty, but not too much. And listening to your body, especially when it comes to illness, race weight, and chronic injury.
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Thanks to Nate Wilson and TrainingPeaks for sharing this article.