WHEN Victor Campenaerts received Stage 18 of this 12 months’s Tour de France, it was the end result of months of meticulous planning, totally targeted on successful that stage and that stage alone.

The Lotto-Dstny rider, 33, had been European Time Trial Champion in 2017 and 2018, beat Sir Bradley Wiggins’ hour report in 2019, and received a stage on the Giro d’Italia in 2021.

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However that elusive stage win at Le Tour had up to now evaded him, till 2024 got here round.

However Victor goes above and past such as you’ve by no means seen earlier than to make sure each doable marginal achieve works in his favour.

He spent 9 weeks coaching at altitude in Sierra Nevada earlier this 12 months – and was the primary to reach and final to go away Lotto’s coaching camp.

This altitude coaching, mixed with common warmth coaching periods, in the end paid off as Victor lastly obtained his fingers on one of the coveted prizes biking has to supply.

So to search out out simply what makes him tick, SunSport took a visit right down to Precision Gas and Hydration’s Efficiency Lab within the New Forest.

Upon arrival at Precision HQ, we began with a sweat take a look at, which measures how a lot sodium you lose if you sweat, or in different phrases, how salty your sweat is.

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Everybody loses a special quantity of sodium when sweating, something from 200mg per litre to as much as 2,000mg/l.

I misplaced 942mg, making me a ‘reasonably salty sweater’, with Victor at a really related stage.

Victor informed me which means I might win a stage of Le Tour too, I wouldn’t be placing a lot cash on the probabilities of that one taking place although!

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These outcomes permit Precision, who companion with Victor and Lotto-Dstny, to plan a personalised hydration plan to satisfy his particular person wants.

In order that was the simple bit, subsequent got here the realisation that I’d be going head-to-head with Victor on the bike.

However as if driving a motorcycle towards one of many quickest males on the planet wasn’t arduous sufficient, attempt doing that in a sauna.

Precision provide some phrases of warning earlier than you get going:

1. Don’t go it alone – as a substitute, search recommendation from a coach or a warmth coaching skilled
2. Be sure you’re hydrated earlier than you begin, and also you proceed to remain hydrated each throughout and after your warmth coaching.
3. Use a Core Physique Sensor in the event you can, a physique temperature of round 38.5°C is what try to be aiming for.
4. Re-fuel after every session, ideally round 1.2g of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight for every of the 4 hours after your session.

Warmth coaching is the massive factor in biking for the time being, and includes driving at elevated temperatures for wherever between 30 and 80 minutes.

It serves two functions – to reinforce efficiency within the warmth, and to extend blood plasma quantity, which in flip will increase a rider’s cardiac output and is subsequently essential to an endurance athlete.

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Only a small quantity of warmth coaching can go a really great distance. A latest research with a gaggle of educated cyclists confirmed a 6.5% enhance in blood plasma quantity, and a 5% enhance in VO2 max (a measure of cardio health), with simply 10 days of warmth coaching.

Scorching temperatures additionally enhance your threat of cramping, additional amplifying the significance of replenishing the sodium misplaced with carbohydrates and electrolytes.

So into the warmth chamber we went.

At 39°C, it was a bit bit hotter than the 8°C within the New Forest on the time, and was a little bit of a shock to the system.

Precision’s unimaginable workforce of sports activities scientists weighed us, wired us as much as coronary heart charge displays after which it was showtime.

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They managed the energy at which we might push the pedals, guaranteeing neither of us successfully cooked within the chamber and our physique temperatures remained at a secure charge.

Victor, a seasoned professional who was driving his first Grand Tour simply as I used to be ending my A Ranges, was driving at a far greater wattage than me, however our coronary heart charges weren’t dissimilar.

The so-called ‘heat up’ – as in the event you want one in a warmth chamber – felt comfy, however the sweat was actually build up.

Our 50-minute session was crammed with Victor discussing the advantages for him of each warmth and altitude coaching, dripping with sweat however nonetheless capable of maintain a dialog as if it was nothing.

One of many key parts of warmth coaching is to stay hydrated. With temperatures topping 40°C at each of this 12 months’s Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana, riders can be dropping pounds – generally a number of kilograms – in sweat alone.

Warmth coaching permits Victor to acclimatise to the warmth and in flip individualise his personal coaching regime to swimsuit his completely executed plan to win Stage 18.

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Because the clock hit 50 minutes, Victor was dripping with sweat and compared I felt fairly good – my physique temperature remained under 38°C whereas Victor practically reached 39°C.

My common energy for the session was 107 watts, Victor’s virtually 50% extra at 185, however I used to be much less sweaty so who was the actual winner?

Victor put out 173% extra absolute energy than me in his low season, all whereas chatting away and barely pushing himself.

Your energy output in these periods isn’t imagined to be extreme, a comparatively gentle quantity of energy at between 70% and 80% of your most coronary heart charge – which is amplified by the warmth.

In simply 50 minutes, regardless of the ‘gentle’ exercise, I misplaced virtually half a kilogram in weight – and others driving with me misplaced in extra of a kilogram.

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It’s believed that between 4 and 5 ‘doses’ of warmth publicity can have a significant affect in your physique. Dr Jan Boone, a part of Lotto Dstny’s efficiency workforce, recommends 5 periods per week for 5 weeks for the optimum results.

Every part I’ve talked about above varieties a part of ‘energetic warmth acclimation’, however you too can really feel the advantages with out sitting on a motorcycle do you have to so want.

Passive warmth acclimation will be sitting in a sizzling bathtub, with the water saved at between 40°C and 45°C, for between 30 and 45 minutes.

In response to a 2017 research, 6-7 of those extraordinarily sizzling baths – both on consecutive days or unfold throughout a barely longer interval – can induce related variations inside your physique to the warmth coaching in Precision’s Efficiency Lab. 

Likewise, three periods per week of sitting in a sizzling sauna for half-hour can even have a significant impact in your efficiency.

So what did I be taught – will I win a stage at subsequent 12 months’s Tour de France? No.

Would Victor beat me even when he was driving along with his eyes closed? Sure.

Can warmth coaching work for anybody, together with us mere amateurs? Sure, completely.

Warmth coaching is usually a way more sensible different to altitude coaching, since you’ll be able to merely throw on a few additional layers and get going.

Victor informed Precision that his go-to outfit is “leg heaters, socks, gloves, full head overlaying, base layer, rubbish bag, one other thick lengthy sleeve layer, rain jacket, physique and thermal jacket.” 

You could possibly, after all, go for a couple of much less layers – significantly right now of 12 months when it’s already chilly and also you’ve possible obtained the heating on.