'Nothing could be further from the truth': Mathieu Heijboer pushes back on cycling's data myth

Data has become an increasingly important part of professional cycling — and for many traditional fans, that is a source of frustration. But just how large a role does it actually play? Mathieu Heijboer, Head of Performance at Visma | Lease a Bike, gave a fascinating insight into how his team uses data — and how much they don't — on the In De Waaier podcast. Cycling romantics, this one's for you.

First, the word "data" itself — because even Heijboer is aware of the baggage it now carries. "Data is seen as: it's numbers. For me, feedback from a training session can also be considered data — a different kind, granted. Data has developed a slightly dirty reputation, but the question is: what do you actually do with it?"

From the outside, there is a widespread assumption that Visma | Lease a Bike are intensely data-driven. Heijboer pushes back on that. "People think it's very data-driven, but we are above all very people-driven." Where does the perception come from, then? "You don't see those conversations, but after a stage you do see all the climbing times and power outputs. That's what people see."

"I think followers have always loved the romance of cycling. In that sense, they lose that affection when it's supposedly all pre-programmed. I still believe, ultimately, that intuition and creativity determine whether you win a race or not," says the former professional cyclist, striking an important note.

That said, data is still a vitally important part of the picture. "There is a great deal of information available that can be particularly useful behind the scenes, to ensure that intuition can do its work at the right moment." Because according to Heijboer, intuition is genuinely the decisive factor.

The Dutchman explains. "I know that not many riders actually look at their numbers on a climb. They manage that effort much more on feel." For other types of stages, it is different. "In a time trial, you can calculate fairly precisely in advance what average speed you need to maintain over a given distance, and what finishing time that will produce" — referring to what is widely known in cycling as pacing.

But: "How we shape that pacing is by feel," Heijboer repeats. "In time trials, for example, we divide the route into a number of sectors. We give riders guidance: here you go almost flat out, here you recover... you're not working with robots, of course. You can certainly use historical data to estimate that a rider can sustain 450 watts over 20 minutes. But I hope that on the day it turns out to be 460 watts. That I cannot predict."

The danger, in fact, is paying too much attention to the data. "If I pin the rider to that number, I'm certain it will either end in disappointment, or that he won't get the maximum out of himself. We also coach riders on this: go on feel. That's how they train at home too" — meaning Visma | Lease a Bike's riders are actively encouraged to race on instinct rather than numbers.

The best example? "The famous time trial in 2023" — referring to the stage 16 time trial at that year's Tour de France, with which Jonas Vingegaard ultimately won the race. "He looked at his power meter once and thought: that can't be right, I'm going way too hard. But I feel good, so I'm just going to keep going. That also comes from the coaching: ride this time trial on feel, but stay sharp."

"So it is much more about coaching on feel than on data," Heijboer continues. "We do use data in the background — to learn from it and to do things better in the future." Yet he is also acutely aware: "Around our team, and in cycling more broadly, there is a perception that things have gone so far that it is only about data and that feel no longer plays any role. Nothing could be further from the truth."

"But I also don't want to say that data plays no important role in how we analyse things, because there is a lot of valuable information hidden in there. We try to keep a certain amount of that away from the riders — because they don't always benefit from knowing it all. A rider, a person, gets better when you treat them like a human being. But all these riders are top-level athletes, hugely motivated, so they want to know everything too," Heijboer concludes.