Sportsister recently joined the HTC-Columbia Training camp in Majorca to meet the members of their women’s team and get the inside track on how they are training to beat their biggest rivals, Team Cervelo.

Two of the athletes, German Ina Teutenburg (pictured below left) and American Kim Anderson have been racing for years and have a huge amount of experience in the women’s peloton.

The other two are fresh faced and keen to learn more: Swedish 21 year old Time Trial Champion Emilia Fahlin (pictured right) and first year pro Evelyn Stevens. Stevens is so new to the peloton she only recently left a job at a bank on Wall Street to take up riding full time.

The women’s team have the same support as the HTC – Columbia men’s team, and every bit as much pressure. They follow the same training patterns, techniques, nutrition, core work and sports science – but while the men’s team is focused for 2010 on winning sprints and race stages, the women’s team is looking to win overall.

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So, not only are they out riding a lot, but often riding incredibly specific, goal orientated killer sessions, These rides maximize their potential and are incredibly effective yet they are also deeply dreaded!

Fahlin’s killer session would be a four hour climbing session with intervals in the middle. She says “you know it is hard but the feeling after is so good!” And even worse is doing these sessions by herself. “It is hard to be totally alone and keep pushing and not knowing if you are doing well. It is easier in a race as the girls, your competition, are all around you. If they go, you go.” On this type of session though Fablin has a lovely description of how to get through it: “You have to find the right mood of your brain and feel the rhythm.”

Stevens says “the one that really hurts is called MSO: Maximum Sustainable Output. I often do it on a turbo trainer and it is an interval session with intervals of 3-7 minutes all out effort. I have to do them 5-8 times but they vary each session. It is painful but satisfying. You do want to die at the end of it though!”

The experienced riders Anderson and Teutenburg agree. “There is a session from my coach which is three minutes hard intervals about 6 or 7 times. They are hard, but they work. They are what make good people,” says Anderson.

And Teutenburg may have been racing for years and years but she still says she dreads the first intensity session of the year. “It is always really tough. The first time your heart rate goes up really high in a while.”

But being a pro cyclist isn’t always about putting yourself through the pain of interval sessions. They all have favourite sessions too. And their eyes light up when they talk about them.

Teutenburg’s loves long endurance rides on her own. “We travel so much it is nice to have freedom and to do the training you need to do properly – not having to chat, or go at someone else’s pace. I hate small talk – it is not relaxing.”

At the other end of the scale the more sociable Anderson is really clear about her favourite training session. “Group rides. It is more fun and means I can ride with my boyfriend.”

Fahlin’s favourite training sessions are those based on the areas she knows she is good at. Assisted by strong legs, good co-ordination and explosive power from her previous career as a gymnast, she loves sprinting sessions.

And Stevens, with all the enthusiasm of a new pro, can’t find a favourite session. “I like most workouts. I like intervals, I like long rides. I actually like most of my training.“

All the girls agree their main competition this year as a team will come from Cervelo but this doesn’t daunt them. Teutenberg just wants “to win as much as possible.” And, as all the girls seem morbidly dedicated to their interval sessions, that seems a distinct possibility.

The most hated (but effective) Team HTC-Columbia killer session:

- To be ridden on a flat piece of road or a turbo trainer.

- 20 minutes easy to warm your legs, get them spinning round and slowly raise your heart rate.

- Go for 3 minutes as hard as you can, recover by spinning slowly for 3 minutes.

- Repeat this seven times.

- Warm down by spinning your legs on the bike for 10 to 15 minutes.

Josephine Perry, Sportsister

The Women’s Sports Magazine

Photo credits: TDWSport.com