Pau (AFP)
The Tour de France is gaining momentum: with the Tourmalet on Saturday, the peloton climbs the first of the seven climbs exceeding the 2000 meters altitude of the course. A physiologically determining factor that runners prepare.
"Excellence brings us to the top, which is why we wanted to have seven passes and three finishes beyond 2000 meters (Tourmalet, Tignes, Val Thorens) .With this idea that many accredit, that the champions do not necessarily have the same performance beyond 2000 meters, that there is a share of random "at these heights. This is how the director of the Tour Christian Prudhomme summarizes this choice, assumed, to evolve the peloton to rare heights.
A part of random that depends on how the body of each athlete will react to the elements. "The higher we go, the lower the barometric pressure," says Frédéric Grappe, the director of performance at Groupama-FDJ. "In full effort, the body has more difficulty in capturing oxygen when it is aloft, which directly affects its physical capabilities", summarizes his counterpart AG2R La Mondiale Jean-Baptiste Quiclet.
Both claim that genetic factors affect the effect of altitude on the body. Some react to it better than others, like Thibaut Pinot. "It's a chance," admits the runner. "Good if it can create fatigue in the opponent".
- Genetic factors -
The genetic advantage, if it exists, can be reduced. Because the altitude, it works. "By recreating the world of high mountains", says Frédéric Grappe. Some riders do training sessions in "hypoxic chambers", sealed places where the amount of oxygen is reduced to simulate the effect of altitude. Although rare, "they are democratized", assures Jean-Baptiste Quiclet, who relies regularly on the facilities of the national center of Nordic ski Prémanon (Jura).
Easier to access and based on the same principle, "hypoxic tents", used not for training but for sleep, are more widespread but "not revolutionary". "It would take between 12 and 15 hours a day for several days to see the effects," said Frederic Grappe.
Obviously, stay in the high mountain. "We realized over time that by staying constantly at altitude, the body began to develop physiological mechanisms to compensate for oxygen deficiency," says Jean-Baptiste Quiclet.
This type of internship is highly acclaimed by teams, but it must meet many criteria to be beneficial. Its duration? Two weeks at least, three in the ideal, not more because it becomes "too tiring", agree the specialists. Precautions to take? Perform a complete biological assessment six to eight weeks before leaving. "If it is not excellent, you can finish burnt and the stage will have been bad". And on the spot, to adapt the training, the food, to eat more protein, to hydrate more, to limit the risk of overwork, of disease, stronger at altitude.
- Obligatory passage -
Again, the results are not guaranteed. Difficult to measure because the short-term effects fade quickly. But often useful in the long run because "the body keeps in memory reflexes, which come back faster when you return," says the director performance of Groupama-FDJ, whose riders spent 17 days late January near the volcano Teide, in Tenerife, where the Sky team (now Ineos) has long had its habits.
"I had felt a lot of the benefits," says young climber David Gaudu. "I felt stronger, better able to recover from my efforts, to breathe better".
Since 2014 and his first experience at altitude, the leader of the AG2R team, Romain Bardet, performs two to three comparable experiments per year. The latest in May in Sierra Nevada to more than 2400 meters. "He has always been comfortable, but the multiplicity of exhibitions has improved," says the performance director of the French team.
To win the Tour, preparation in the heights seems to be a must. "Five years ago, they were only five of the top 20 to go in. We measured the effects," concludes Jean-Baptiste Quiclet. "Today, you can not consider preparing a grand tour without going through it."
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