Victor Campenaerts may be one of the best TT riders in the world but that hasn’t stopped him from looking for even more performance gains.
The former European TT champion and current world hour record holder is sleeping in a tent mimicking an altitude of 4,700m; aiming at depriving the body of oxygen so it will produce more red blood cells.
To put that into perspective, the vast majority of even
the biggest mountains the Tour de France tackles are not even close to 2,000
metres, with only a small number going over that altitude.
The Col du Galibier, for example, is 2,642 metres and the
Col d'Izoard is 2,360 metres. Even the brutal Mont Ventoux is less than 2,000
metres, at 1,912m, while the Col du Tourmalet is 2,115m.
During last year’s Tour when the race route headed for high altitude, climbs like the Col de I’Iseran and Val Thorens were at 2,758m and 2,363m respectively.
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Obviously climbing at the Tour de France is not comparable to sleeping, but Campenaerts (NTT Pro Cycling) is still opting for a very extreme setting for his tent.
The Belgian rider is keeping his eye fixed on the TT at
the Worlds and the Giro when racing resumes and he believes his sleeping habits
will really help.
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He said he had slept at the “extreme” altitude setting
for three weeks and that it was so difficult he only trained about eight hours
per week.
However, the 28-year-old, who lives at sea level in
Belgium, believed the red blood cell impact on his body meant he would have an “unprecedentedly
high hematocrit” when he began his training block ahead of his return to
racing.
“After those weeks
in an altitude tent you are super strong. Because you have produced so many red
blood cells, you should be able to feel like a rider who took EPO,” he said.
“Medically, that is the height at which you are just not
starting to die. If you went higher, your body would start to break down
because it is too heavy.”
To be clear, sleeping in an altitude tent is legal under
WADA rules and riders regularly undergo altitude camps, many several times
every year, to prepare for big goals. However, altitude tents are banned in
some countries.
Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo Visma) said in recent weeks that
altitude preparation was so important he would not be able to compete properly
for general classification at the Tour de France this year if the Covid19
pandemic meant he could not prepare at altitude.
Furthermore, the Colombian riders who have returned to their home country during lock-down will have a very significant advantage on most other pros when racing resumes because they live at high altitude.
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