{"id":466350,"date":"2026-02-10T18:33:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T18:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/466350\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T18:33:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T18:33:12","slug":"what-pro-cyclists-do-when-snowed-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/466350\/","title":{"rendered":"What Pro Cyclists Do When Snowed In"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated February 10, 2026 03:36AM<\/p>\n

Come to Sierra Nevada, they said. It will be warm, dry, and sunny, they said.<\/p>\n

Jonas Abrahamsen<\/a> and his Uno-X Mobility<\/a> teammates were sold a training camp dream that turned into a whiteout.<\/p>\n

The Uno-X crew has been sucking thin air on top of Sierra Nevada for the past three weeks, and it\u2019s safe to say the weather has not been kind.<\/p>\n

The region has been hit by arctic blasts that must have made its Scandinavian guests feel right at home. Local weather alerts detailed high winds, heavy rainfall, and a drop in the snowline to 1,200m.<\/p>\n

Worse still, Sierra Nevada\u2019s plowing teams evidently didn\u2019t see a bunch of cyclists stuck at 2,350m as a top priority.<\/p>\n

Uno-X has been peering out of hotel windows at tarmac blanketed by 5 feet of snow, and it\u2019s been all but impossible to get off the mountain to train.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s no such thing as a \u201csnow day\u201d on training camp.<\/p>\n

The local gymnasium has become a high-altitude Zwift<\/a> center.<\/p>\n

Riders have been wearing their chamois ragged as they toil through six-hour indoor sessions that replicate the work that should have been done outdoors.<\/p>\n

Snow stops the show for multiple teams on training camp
\n\"\"Does it get any more miserable than this? Paul Seixas and Decathlon CMA CGM have also largely stuck indoors for large periods of their Sierra Nevada camp.<\/p>\n

According to Abrahamsen\u2019s Strava<\/a>, he and his teammates have suffered more than 50 hours of Zwift during their snow-heavy, oxygen-light training camp. They\u2019ve put tires on the tarmac just seven days in 25.<\/p>\n

Even for a notorious Zwift fiend<\/a> like Abrahamsen, that\u2019s a test of mental resilience as much as aerobic capacity.<\/p>\n

Decathlon-CMA CGM and Visma-Lease a Bike also parachuted into Sierra Nevada in recent weeks and reluctantly joined the indoor trainer party. Wout van Aert has ridden outside only once in his four days at thin air.<\/p>\n

Tom Pidcock and his Q36.5 teammates must have been laughing from their sunloungers while they lazed in the sun of their high-altitude hotel in Chile.<\/a><\/p>\n

Abrahamsen revealed the monotonous, mind-numbing reality of a snowed-in altitude camp last week in an Instagram reel. Visma\u2019s young star Niklas Behrens posted his own \u201clife in a day on Sierra Nevada\u201d<\/a> to Instagram a few days later.<\/p>\n

Abrahamsen\u2019s video provides a rare insight into the grind of life at thin air, whether a team is locked down or not.<\/p>\n

The burly classics and breakaway star lifts the lid on 9,000-calorie menus, heinous indoor training sessions, some wacky \u201ctechnique drills,\u201d and a whole lot more.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2018A day in the life\u2019 of an indoor training camp
\nBreakfast:<\/p>\n

500g oatmeal with jam, 2 x bread, omelette: 225g carbohydrate \/ 900 calories minimum.<\/p>\n

This is about as generic a cycling breakfast as you can get. But it works.<\/p>\n

Mobility and activation drills:
\n\"AbrahamsenAbrahamsen gets the glutes firing for a big day of training. (Photo: Jonas Abrahamsen Instagram)<\/p>\n

UAE Emirates-XRG sparked intrigue when it shared reels of Tadej Poga\u010dar waddling around<\/a> before a race with heavy resistance bands around his knees.<\/p>\n

But as Abrahamsen shows, these \u201cactivation\u201d routines are far from unique. Athletes have been using such drills for years to keep key muscle groups \u201cfiring,\u201d and to prevent imbalances or injury.<\/p>\n

Abrahamsen also works through a series of basic mobility moves in his 20-minute session.<\/p>\n

These workouts are designed to keep riders loose and limber while they spend 30 hours a week hunched over a bike. The spine, hips, and shoulders are typical focus areas that become even\u00a0more important for a cyclist stuck rigid in Watopia for hours a day.<\/p>\n

Technique training:
\n\"Uno-XProbably harder than it looks. (Photo: Jonas Abrahamsen Instagram)<\/p>\n

Seeing riders slaloming around cones in a fusty old gymnasium is one of the most intriguing elements of Abrahamsen\u2019s reel. It\u2019s almost unprecedented to see a pro team working on these types of \u201chandling drills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Uno-X\u2019s skills session would do Jo\u00e3o Almeida proud. UAE\u2019s Portuguese star recently suggested \u201cproficiency tests\u201d<\/a> would help riders sharpen up for the sensory assault that is a 60kph peloton.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unknown whether Uno-X riders follow these routines when they can also ride outdoors. However, it is likely they would actively practice more race-specific scenarios like leadouts and hand-ups from the team car.<\/p>\n

Zwift ride 1 (AM):
\n\"Uno-XRiders use a pinprick strip to draw blood (typically from fingertip or earlobe) for lactate testing. (Photo: Jonas Abrahamsen Instagram )<\/p>\n

3 hours including 5 x 20 minutes at LT1.<\/p>\n

This is a bread, butter, and boring \u201cbase ride.\u201d LT1, or the aerobic threshold, approximates to training zone 2.<\/p>\n

Uno-X Mobility\u2019s head coach Olav Aleksander Bu famously pioneered the lactate-driven \u201cNorwegian method\u201d while he mentored leading triathletes and VO2 Max monsters Kristian Blummenfelt<\/a> and Gustav Iden.<\/p>\n

Many pro cyclists now also use lactate monitors to regulate the physiological toll of training, particularly when heart rates and power zones are affected by altitude.<\/p>\n

Recovery snack:<\/p>\n

Juice, gummy bears, and presumably a protein \/ recovery shake: 120g carbohydrate + 25g protein: 580 calories minimum.<\/p>\n

Life at the WorldTour isn\u2019t all fancy sport nutrition and chef-produced snacks. Haribos and soda are cheap, tasty, and provide all the quick glycogen a rider needs after three hours on an indoor trainer.<\/p>\n

Lunch:
\n\"Uno-XAbrahamsen\u2019s lunch on training camp. We don\u2019t get it, either. (Photo: Jonas Abrahamsen Instagram )<\/p>\n

Rice with chocolate cereal and maple syrup: 305g carbohydrate + 30g protein: 1,340 calories minimum.<\/p>\n

This is the meal of either a madman or a genius. It could be gross or actually quite nice.<\/p>\n

Either way, 300g [1,200 calories] of carbohydrate in one meal is borderline crazy. Some \u201cnormal\u201d people might not eat that many carbs in a day.<\/p>\n

But context is key here. This meal is \u201cfuel,\u201d not food.<\/p>\n

Abrahamsen needs buckets of carbs to recover from the morning session and reload for another big workout in the afternoon.<\/p>\n

The looming presence of a second ride on Abrahamsen\u2019s schedule is also why he doesn\u2019t seem to eat any fat or fiber at lunchtime. Remember, there are no portaloos in Zwift.<\/p>\n

Zwift ride 2 (PM):
\n\"UnoA grab from Abrahamsen\u2019s training plan shows the work for the day. (Photo: Jonas Abrahamsen Instagram)<\/p>\n

3 hours including 4 x 6 min at LT2, 6 x 3 min at VO2 Max, 8 x 1 min at VO2 Max.<\/p>\n

There are three more butt-numbing hours on the indoor trainer for Abrahamsen in the afternoon, and more lactate-guided intervals.<\/p>\n

But this time, there\u2019s a lot more effort.<\/p>\n

This session combines efforts at LT2 [anaerobic threshold \/ around zone 4] with a series of lung-busting VO2 Max finishers. It\u2019s a race simulation that builds Abrahamsen\u2019s durability and primes his engine to go deep in the most foul finales of Flanders.<\/p>\n

With three hours already in the legs from the morning, this will hurt.<\/p>\n

Dinner:<\/p>\n

Beefburger + 2 x hasselback potatoes: Macro breakdown undisclosed.<\/p>\n

This is another good reminder that WorldTour menus aren\u2019t all chicken breasts and white rice [and cereal, in Abrahamsen\u2019s case]. Team chefs often serve burgers, pizza, and other mojo-boosting meals the evening before a rest day.<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s face it, if a rider is ever in need of a treat, it\u2019s one who just spent six hours staring at his avatar on Zwift.<\/p>\n

Daily totals:<\/p>\n

Total training: 6hr 35min \/\u00a06,050kJ
\nTotal calorie burn: 9,200 calories
\nTotal carbs consumed: 1,800g \/ 7,200 calories<\/p>\n

Uno-X\u2019s high altitude experiment
\n\"\"Abrahamsen (far left) was the figurehead of Uno-X Mobility\u2019s push for WorldTour status in 2025. (Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Uno-X Mobility landed in Sierra Nevada for training camp on January 14. That\u2019s the earliest a team has taken to thin air in Europe this year.<\/p>\n

For context, Van Aert and a selection of his Visma teammates didn\u2019t arrive until last week.<\/p>\n

And the ongoing camp isn\u2019t Uno-X\u2019s first rodeo either \u2013 Abrahamsen and multiple teammates were also in Gran Canaria in December.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s new devotion to altitude raised many eyebrows in the WorldTour training community.<\/p>\n

But it seems typical of the revolutionary thinking<\/a> of the team\u2019s \u201cmad-professor\u201d training guru, Bu. It\u2019s been proven that athletes build a \u201chypoxic memory\u201d over repeated trips to altitude. This increases the efficiency and effectiveness of these high-cost operations by reducing the time riders need to acclimate and prolonging the resulting gains.<\/p>\n

But as Uno-X found out in the last month, starting altitude training so early can backfire. There\u2019s no guarantee the weather will play ball in January in Europe.<\/p>\n

But still, 50 hours on Zwift at 2,350m altitude sure won\u2019t slow down Uno-X Mobility in its debut WorldTour season.<\/p>\n