By Ben Hughes, European correspondent at large

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NYVC: I understand you have had a very illustrious career in European cycling. Give us an idea of some of the teams, and cyclists that you have worked with.

ISM: I have worked for the past years with several Division I teams like Vitalicio, Vini Caldirola, ONCE and now Saunier Duval. Among the riders I have worked with are: Joseba Beloki, Abraham Olano, Igor G. de Galdeano, Fred Rodriguez, Jorge Jaksche, Miguel Perdiguero, Stefano Garzelli, Santi Blanco, to name a few.

NYVC: How would you describe your role on the team?

ISM: I work on a one-on-one basis with all riders on the team checking as many physiological factors as possible, as well as their training and coordinating the medical issues concerning them.

NYVC: How important is the medical testing that you put the team through?

ISM: It is very important for 3 reasons:

1. Exclude any possible medical condition for the rider.

2. Getting to know how their physiology works so that I can prescribe the proper training to strengthen their weakest points.

3. Getting to know the physiological condition a rider has in a specific time of the year to “foresee” his performance, e.g., before the Tour, Vuelta, Classics…etc.

NYVC: How often do you put the team through this testing?

ISM: Maximal lactate laboratory cycling tests are performed usually 3 times/year. Field tests are also done depending on the rider and the goal. Other tests like hematological and biochemical blood tests or free-radical/antioxidant status are done on an individualized basis, ranging from a minimum of once a month to 3-4 times per week.

NYVC: Do you think there is a value for amateurs to go through this type of testing?

ISM: Absolutely! You can’t believe how much an amateur rider can improve by knowing his/her physiology in a detailed, scientific way, and then train it in a specific and scientific way.

NYVC: So, amateurs stand to benefit more from this than the pros?

ISM: Generally speaking, an amateur rider improves more than a professional cyclist does, since more weak points are found and therefore, the room for improvement is greater. Also, it is important here in Europe to work with kids, since they have a tremendous capacity to improve and develop their physiology so that they get to the amateur category with a very good, strong solid base, and they can be better off in that category.

NYVC: So, you don’t think too much reliance on science can take the fun out of the sport?

ISM: Absolutely not! I believe that part of the fun thing of being a cyclist is getting to know the way your body works, your limits, and the way to improve and avoid mistakes so that you can enjoy more as a cyclist. That is where science can help you in the same way it can help you improve the cycling materials you use. Old school cyclists here in Europe don’t believe much in science, but when they go out and ride their bikes — they don’t use 30-year-old 50 lb. bikes! They use the nicest bikes made thanks to the nicest technology given by science….

NYVC: What do you think is the biggest mistake that amateur cyclists make in training is?

ISM: In my opinion there are 3 important ones:

1. A lack of strong solid base. Many riders think they have a better base than what they really have simply because they have being riding for many years. They have probably trained wrong all those years and don’t know their weak points scientifically.

2. Wrong training. Doing a physiological test to see your weak points doesn’t solve all your problems. From what I have seen, many cycling tests offered by coaches, especially in the US, lack the minimal conditions to be considered “scientific.” These tests throw you many wrong numbers that you will use in your training program, and in many cases could be negative for your improvement and jeopardize your performance. Some coaches don’t do any testing, and don’t even know you in person, and yet by a “magical formula” at the cost of $300/month, they know the exact specific training you need. All these factors will elicit a wrong way of training.

3. Over training. Many times when a cyclist doesn’t feel good in races he/she doesn’t know if it is because they are over-trained or because they need more training. I can tell this by personal experience as a former cyclist. You don’t know what’s going on. Many cyclists tend to train more thinking that’s what they need and it all becomes worse. Many of them call their coaches to get advice for their poor performance and they end up doing more “anaerobic sets” or power climbs, which will throw them in a bigger hole. What they need then is a good blood test. It is very important to keep track of your training progress. This is done through hematological and biochemical blood analysis that will tell you early signs of anemia, muscle over training, a net catabolic state…etc. These laboratory tests are a MUST for any professional cyclists, and very important for any amateur cyclists. In my office, I do hematological and biochemical tests even to Juniors once a month to avoid over training, allowing them to perform better. Believe me, it is a very powerful tool for training prescription.

NYVC: What is the most underrated part of a cyclist training regime?

ISM: I believe that it is a must to train in a specific/scientific way, something that for what I have observed not many people in the US do. Also extremely important is nutrition. There are many riders who think they have an optimal weight and they really need to lose 7-10 lb. It is very important to have solid information about the kind of foods that a cyclist needs to eat.

NYVC: Most of us are finished with racing for the season, and beginning to think about winter training. How long should we wait before starting our winter training, and is there anything we should be doing during that period to prepare for it?

ISM: In my opinion, a good period of 5-6 weeks off the bike is needed to get rid of all the deficits from the season, to put your body together again, and to give your head a rest. In this time, you need to eat what you did not eat, party what you could not, and do all those things that are difficult to do during cycling season. Also, I would do some “cross-training” here and there to keep some level of activity.

NYVC: I understand you have done research on the role of free radicals, and the effect of antioxidants on the body during training. How important is it to make sure that antioxidants play a role in a racer’s diet?

ISM: I like this emerging field, and have studied it a lot with cyclists. The bottom line is that free radicals increase with training and competition, and that causes many over-training features. Particularly in cyclists and other athletes, free radicals disrupt red blood cell membranes and muscle cell membranes, as well as damaging their DNA. By having a good antioxidant barrier, we would help minimize free radical damage. This could be done with diet, but in my opinion it is very important to use exogenous antioxidants other than diet alone like Vit C, Vit E, zinc, selenium, glutathione, N-Acetylcysteine…etc. I use this battery of antioxidants with professional cyclists and they work great. I can see their blood free radicals decrease, as well as an increase in the antioxidant capacity of their bodies.

NYVC: So, how is Joseba Beloki going to do in the Tour next year?

ISM: I really hope he will be back to “try” to contest Armstrong….He had a horrible year after the crash in the Tour, and it took so much energy, both physically and mentally, to get back on track. This has been a transition year for him and I am sure he will be fully competitive next year.