I’m writing this sat on a ‘Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday’ plane – try saying that not to the tune of the viral advert! I’m en route to Calpe, or Altea specifically, a coastal town on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, for XDS Astana‘s January training camp.
I’ve been told to have a great holiday on multiple occasions by their friendly staff. I laughed internally at the reality; a holiday it is not, but it doesn’t quite feel like work either. I’ll land at a similar time to some riders, such is the logistical masterpiece put together by my colleague Francesca and the rest of the team’s staff who organise the camp.
This time last year, I found myself hesitating when I realised it was now me who should be taking Harold Tejada’s case for him. I’m pretty sure I did, and that was a real line in the sand at the start of this chapter with XDS Astana. Winter training camps can vary across different teams, and, surprisingly, Calpe is not a destination I ever found myself training as a pro.
And then there was Movistar. Zero winter team training camps during the five years I was there – not a single one. Movistar would have a four-day get-together in October or November to rattle through bikes and kit, team meetings and photos and then say, ‘see you at the races’.
This is laughed at by many until I remind people of Movistar’s brilliant successes over those years and explain the logic I thought was behind it.
Firstly, the December camp is the single most expensive team endeavour of the year. Depending on a team’s size, between 60 and 150 employees require flights, food and accommodation, so the costs are eye-watering. Movistar did away with that, so that’s either less funding required from sponsors, or it can be invested into gains…
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