FORM PERFORMANCE METHOD

Climber

The Climber is the most romantic rider in cycling’s culture. The climber uses their unique style and body dynamics to ascend roads that most others fear. The featherweight riders seem almost as if they are dancing up the big climbs. They thrive on longer, mountainous ascents where the speed drops and drafting becomes limited. Pacing and clearing lactate is vital. Due to their low weight, climbers are able to put in repeated accelerations to drop heavier rivals. Their high endurance levels enable them to recover quickly.

 

The climber is an artist, highly creative and usually the most introverted. These riders have lots of creative ideas. They are gifted people with all the talent in the world. Whether that talent translates into any real results is up to the individual. Some use their talents to become extremely successful while others never sell a single piece of work. Climbers are just fine riding alone and prefer to ride hills at their pace, their way. They each have a unique style. They prefer to plan their moves and react to terrain rather than other people; they race against the course and are not very interested in other people’s opinions. They have a quiet confidence. Climbers express themselves through their bike, painting pictures on the climbs with their signature styles. In fact, you’ll rarely see two climbers with identical riding styles. Sometimes you will see climbers converting into a general classification rider, becoming the leaders of their team. These types of climbers resemble more of a musical artist rather than a painter. They are most like a lead singer in a rock band: Think Axl Rose, Mick Jagger, and John Lennon. These riders like to put on a show. They are highly creative and some of the most genetically gifted riders in the group. They are most comfortable when they are center stage with their bandmates surrounding them putting on the performance of a lifetime. There’s a lot of pressure that comes from being ‘the guy.’ When things don’t go their way they can become emotional. They animate the race with their colorful personalities and flair. A lot of times you will see them hiring their friends as teammates or a family member on the team staff. Their entourage helps them feel supported which is key to their success and sometimes failings. Climbers are arguably some of the most successful riders in the sport but without a team of trustworthy people around they are predisposed to self-destruction.

 

An example of the Climber 

Egan Bernal, Alberto Contador, Katie Hall, and Marco Pantani.

 

Physique:

Smaller stature

Lean

Light-weight

 

Physical Strengths:

Strong power-threshold zones

Strong endurance

Favors out of-the-saddle riding to develop power

Prefers explosive riding 

Able to change the rhythm to great effect 

Strong on all types of climbs

Strong multi-day recovery

 

Physical Weakness:

All time-trials

Flat roads

Cross-winds

Rough road

Sprint finishes

 

Mental Strengths:

High pain tolerance

Aggressive

Determined

Intense short and long focus

Strong mental endurance

 

Mental Weaknesses:

Executes on impulse and emotion

Often overly driven on emotion

 

Ideal Races/Events:

Mountain-top finishes

Mountainous one day events

Hill Climb races

 

Ideal Race-Winning Strategy:

Attack, attack, attack! Climbers embrace pain and love to attack.  These climbers are the first to attack in the most difficult spot on a climb and then solo away.  If that doesn’t work, they attack, follow, attack, follow, attack...until the elastic snaps.