CAV'S FINAL ASCENT

In pursuit of a record-breaking 35th stage victory in the Tour de France, Mark Cavendish added a special ingredient to his preparation - altitude. Chris Marshall-Bell finds out why

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When Vasilis Anastopoulos agreed to join Astana Qazaqstan and again coach Mark Cavendish, this time with a special objective in mind, he knew he would need to add one vital ingredient. “Altitude,” the Greek says. “We’d need to go to altitude a lot.”

Previously, the high ground with its thin air was the preserve of climbers and the general classification cohort – and even for them, only for certain training blocks in the weeks leading up to a Grand Tour. But cycling has evolved so significantly in the past few years that the old training rulebook is looking more and more like an ancient relic. "How you coach a sprinter has changed a lot in a short space of time," Anastopoulos says. "Before, sprinters dictated the race: the race was really slow, and the sprinter with the highest power would win, but that's not the case anymore. Now, they sprint fatigued, having burnt 4,000 kilojoules in three hours. They have to sprint at the end of a hard race. It's now not always the fast guy who is going to win, but the guy who has the biggest resistance to fatigue."

The 48-year-old coach explains that it's no longer feasible for sprinters to slog over climbs at whatever pace they can manage. "Everyone knows that the overall level of the Tour is getting higher and higher every year, and some years ago, a guy like Mark would get over a climb with 300 watts. Now he'll have to do 320 watts. Physically, everyone needs to be a better athlete."

This means Cavendish needs greater endurance than ever, as well as his legendary sprint. "This year we want to improve Mark's aerobic capacity without overlooking the quality sprinting work. We have to build his engine so that he can be fresher at the end of the races."