Alex Dowsett's life lessons in fitness

A hero to club time triallists in Essex, Alex Dowsett is the everyman who broke the Hour record and won Grand Tour stages

-  Chris Marshall-Bell

Alex Dowsett accomplished what most of us can only dream of – going from riding his club 10 in Maldon, Essex, to having a 13-year professional career that included two Grand Tour stage wins, the Hour record and six national time trial titles. Having hung up his racing wheels last autumn, the 34-year-old spent the winter skiing and running in preparation for this Sunday’s London Marathon. He will return to cycling with an as-of-yet-unannounced programme of time trialling and gravel racing.

Dowsett generously gave up two hours of his time, over two separate video calls, to answer CW’s questions on performance and training. With characteristic directness and humour, he talked us through lessons learned from a decade-and-a-half at the top of the sport.

INSPIRATION STARTS AT HOME

My dad [Phil Dowsett] was a motor racing driver and he had a small trophy cabinet at home. He’d tell me all of his stories when I was a kid. Honestly, I remember I’d be thinking at 10 years old, ‘What on earth am I gonna tell my kids?’ I knew I needed to do something. Emulating my dad had a huge impact on me.

SHAKE IT UP

I was a big believer in changing coaches regularly. Many coaches set the same training repeatedly and you become good at that only. But with different coaches, sessions and stimuli, you really see some bigger gains.

USE CLUB TTs TO MASTER PACING