Do You Need a Cycling Coach?

I always find it interesting when I’m asked about the role and relevance of having a cycling coach, especially now that the virtual cycling world has become a fashionable ‘go-to’ for so many people.

As frustrating as it can be to answer a question with a question, I often reply with: “If you were working with a coach – any type of coach, sports related or not – what would you expect from them?” That’s usually enough to start someone considering everything the word ‘coach’ actually involves.

What does a cycling coach actually do?

Look at the list of skills a coach needs and it could have been copied from a management job description. Broadly, they fall into four areas:

• Analysing: reading your data, spotting patterns and working out what’s limiting your progress.
• Guiding: planning your training around your goals, then adjusting it when life gets in the way.
• Supporting: being accountable, communicating openly and being someone to talk to on a hard week.
• Teaching: helping you understand why you’re doing a session, not just what to do.

There can be a preconception that coaches simply hand out workouts, the athlete completes them, and that’s it. To borrow Hunter Allen’s analogy for coaches who work that way: “this is a training plan writer, NOT a coach.”

Coach or training plan?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a standardised plan. If you’ve never trained to a structure, or you’re working to a budget, a plan with minimal analysis and feedback can be a great starting point.

But if you have very clear goals, such as moving up a racing category, training for your first race or sportive, or simply being the best you can be, then the elements above become invaluable. They support you towards your goals and help you exceed what you thought you were capable of.

Who benefits most from a coach?

• Riders chasing a specific goal: a category upgrade, a personal best or a mountainous gran fondo.
• Time-crunched riders: when hours are limited, every session needs to count.
• Riders who feel stuck: training hard but not improving usually means something in the plan needs to change.
• Newer riders: structure and feedback speed up learning and help avoid common mistakes.

For a real example, read how Jorge Zapata progressed from Cat 4 to Cat 1 in two seasons.

What working with a coach looks like week to week

At Phases Cycling, it looks like this:

• An Annual Training Plan (ATP) built around your target events.
• Daily sessions that fit your availability, with unlimited adjustments if work, family or illness get in the way.
• Written feedback on every completed workout through TrainingPeaks, with the next day’s training shaped by the last.
• A weekly video call to review the week and plan the next.
• Unlimited email, phone and WhatsApp support, plus extra guidance and calls before and after races and events.

The aim is a relationship built on communication and trust, because that’s what keeps progress going when motivation dips. If that’s a challenge for you, my post on setting goals might help.

How to choose a coach

Whoever you choose, it’s worth asking a few questions first:

• What qualifications and experience do they have?
• How many athletes are they currently coaching?
• How often will we communicate, and how quickly do they respond?
• Is the training genuinely individual, or the same plan sent to everyone?
• How do they handle illness, a missed week or a change of goal?
• Can I speak to them before committing?

A good coach will be happy to answer all of these.