When training, life and expectations overflow, even cycling can start to feel like a burden.
Cor Vos, Kristof Ramon, cover image Yosafat Herdian – Unsplash
Back in July, we saw an uncharacteristic Tadej Pogačar: not in his dominance, which was business as usual, but in how he went about claiming it. The opening week and a half saw Pogačar ride in his trademark attacking style. Victories on stages 4, 7, 12, and 13 continued his business-as-usual relationship with the Grand Boucle, but this changed as the race continued through the second and third weeks.
From stage 13 onwards, instead of attacking, he rode defensively, letting solo escapees take stage wins that could otherwise have gone his way. It initially looked as though this was simply a new strategy to conserve energy and seal the overall win. However, it became apparent in the daily press conferences and the way he approached questions around his performances, strategies, and winless third week, that more was at play.
The was more than one stage in the final week of the Tour that could have gone Pogačar’s way, but the Slovenian seemed happy to just get each day done and dusted.
Rather than his jovial self, he was more downbeat and openly talked about looking forward to leaving the race; at times, he even publicly questioned his future within the sport. For a rider at the highest level of professional sport, for anyone who’s experienced burnout, Pogačar’s change of behaviour probably looked quite familiar.
Often dismissed as a buzzword, burnout is a real issue in cycling. While Pogačar doesn’t appear to be suffering from burnout and has returned to both his aggressive dominance and broadly cheerful outlook, that wasn’t assured in the rider we saw in July. Longer seasons, tougher races, and growing expectations affect pros and recreational riders alike, as we juggle training with work, family, and daily life.
To learn more about burnout and how to reduce its risk, I spoke with Barney Wren, a sport psychologist, and Dr James Griffin, a clinical psychologist at Changing Minds, a UK-based performance-specific psychology organisation. Both work with EF Pro Cycling’s men’s and women’s teams, helping riders and staff manage the pressures of professional cycling.
What is burnout?
Let’s start at the beginning. Like many trendy buzzwords, the actual definition of burnout has been lost; in many cases, it has become overused and colloquialised.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), burnout is defined as: “A syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress not successfully managed, characterised by feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job or feelings of negativism/cynicism related to it, and reduced professional efficacy.”
This post is for paying subscribers only
Subscribe now
Already have an account? Sign in
Did we do a good job with this story?
👍Yep
👎Nope