Riders are choosing to race less and less: Tim Declercq on the 'snowball effect' of modern training

Remco Evenepoel recently announced that he would skip the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes — formerly known as the Critérium du Dauphiné — to prepare for the Tour de France through training camps instead. It is part of a wider trend that has become increasingly visible across the peloton in recent years: riders racing less and less. Former professional Tim Declercq and Belgian national coach Serge Pauwels discussed the topic in Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.

Tadej Pogačar had just five race days to his name by the end of April. Evenepoel is skipping racing in his Tour preparation entirely. And Wout van Aert built in a nearly two-month racing break after his Paris-Roubaix victory. Racing less is becoming increasingly popular among the sport's top riders — and it is a relatively recent development, Declercq explains.

"In the past, people still believed you couldn't be in good shape if you hadn't been racing. That's no longer the case." Declercq points to several reasons, starting with the level of racing itself. "It's so much higher now, which means riders need longer to recover. When you have three races in a single week during the Classics, for example, you simply can't train. The riders' fitness really drops off."

Pauwels agrees. "The tough races demand so much from riders — physically and mentally — that they genuinely need time to reset." And with so much more data now available, targeted training has become even more valuable. "In a race, you have far less control over the metrics you can actually measure."

According to Declercq, a snowball effect has taken hold. "Because riders race less, they're very hungry when they do — which makes the races even harder." But the rising intensity of racing is not the only reason top riders are choosing to compete less frequently.

"Everyone goes to altitude camps these days. They're very effective, but the benefits don't last that long. Once the effects wear off, riders head back up for another camp, which means they miss a lot of racing," says Declercq. "There are still riders who thrive on racing, though. Look at Wout (Van Aert — Ed.): he digests a three-week stage race extremely well and is actually in top form right afterwards," Pauwels adds.

Riders also need to be at their ideal racing weight ahead of a Grand Tour. "During a race it's not easy to restrict carbohydrates and shed a bit of weight that way — it's much easier to do in training," says Pauwels. Even so, Declercq believes riders shouldn't underestimate what racing gives them. "Maybe not physically — but tactically and in other areas, it's very important that riders keep racing."