Reflective blog post - GB cycling team failing to impress at World Championships

(Image retrieved from http://spaldingcyclingclub.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/british_cycling_logo.jpg)

The GB cycling team failed to impress in poor weather conditions at the World Championship Road Race this weekend. What would / should the team have done better? Could the High Performance Manager have done anything different or the support team? What should be discussed in the post-race debrief?

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/sep/29/world-championships-bradley-wiggins-chris-froome

What would/should the team have done better?

Less established teams/countries on the day managed to perform quite well under the exact same conditions so the excuse of the weather appears to only be a part of the issue. The team could have potentially ensured everyone racing was mentally and physically prepared pre-race for the horrible conditions they were about to face. On the face of it, it seems that this was a big issue faced by the British team. Yes there were crashes and a tremendous amount of water which increased the danger and difficulty level of the race, but other riders, especially Rui Alberto Costa – the winner, managed to perform and mentally dig deep to finish strong.

Could the high performance manager have done anything different or the support team?

There are a couple of things that the HPM and/or support team could have done differently if they hadn’t already done them to begin with:

·         Progressive and accurate weather forecasting to help plan:

o    Race tactics

o    Training schedules

o    Training sessions

o    Periodisation

·         Accurate and thorough scouting of the venue(s)/course and relay information back to the riders concerning:

o    Whether there were any areas of the course with dangerously deep puddles of water,

o    What the best racing lines to take would be

o    An assessment on what track conditions would likely become if the weather became worse

§  Where these changes would most likely occur

In the end, even if the team had done all it could have done, the craziness of the weather would have taken a toll on a bulk of the riders. The article indicates that there was also an inevitability of bad luck hanging over the race and it just seems that on the day the British team were the ones that it appeared to hit much to the surprise of most people.

What should be discussed in the post-race brief?

Clearly the riders are laying blame at the feet of the weather conditions on the day for the poor results shown and this needs to be brought up in the post-race debrief. Weather conditions affecting the race are inevitable in a sport such as outdoor cycling, and seeing as lesser competitors rode successfully on the day, the weather can only be used briefly as an excuse.

What needs to be discussed is whether everyone involved in the British team had done everything they could possibly do to ensure success at the race. Did the manager and support staff effectively prepare the athletes and plan for the race so as to mitigate any shortcomings? Where the athletes mentally prepared for this race? So were they mentally ready to compete in such horrendous conditions from the outset and at what point did they lose focus?

What also should ultimately be discussed in the post-race debrief is how the team can bounce back. What needs to be looked at and done to overcome any issues faced in this race and lessen or eliminate these issues in future races.