5. SIR DAVID BRAILSFORD
⢠Firstly, you need a team with the skills and motivation to succeedâ
⢠âSecondly, you need to understand what you want to achieveâ
⢠âThirdly, you need to understand where you are nowâ
⢠âThen, you need to put a plan in place to see how you can get
from where you are now to what you want to achieveâ
6. MARGINAL GAINS
⢠âAlso, itâs important to understand the âaggregation of
marginal gainsâ. Put simplyâŚ.how small improvements
in a number of different aspects of what we do can
have a huge impact to the overall performance of the
team.â
9. â˘
Values and Rules
We will respect one another and watch each otherâs backs
We will be honest with one another
We will respect team equipment
We will be on time
We will communicate openly and regularly
If we want our helmets cleaned we will leave them on the bus
We will debrief after every race
We will always wear team kit as instructed in the team dress code
We will not use our phones at dinner
We will respect the bus
We will respect personnel and management
We will ask for any changes to be made to the bikes the night
before the race and not on race day
We will follow the RULES
In 1997, when lottery funding was introduced, British cycling had no real 'system' in place. A structure was established by the newly appointed performance director Peter Keen, who coached Chris Boardman to an Olympic gold medal in Barcelona in 1992, and Keen also had a clear vision: to become the world's number one track cycling team.
That seemed a far-fetched ambition ten years ago, but by the time Brailsford succeeded Keen, in 2004, they were on their way to achieving the goal. By the 2008 world championships, in Manchester, the British team was dominant. And they confirmed their pre-eminence in Beijing, winning seven of the ten Olympic gold medals available on the track - and winning gold on the road, too, thanks to Nicole Cooke in the women's road race.
In Cooke's success there were several examples of the 'marginal gains' approach. The first was in her attire. The Welshwoman was not wearing the traditional road shirt, with pockets at the back, and shorts. She was wearing a one-piece skinsuit more typically favoured by time triallists and track riders. Why? Because she believed that its greater aerodynamics properties and comfort could give her a marginal advantage.
A second example was Cooke's choice of equipment - she used ultra-light tyres, of the type, again, favoured by track riders. It was a risk - they are more vulnerable to punctures, especially in the rainy conditions that characterised the women's road race in Beijing - but one that she considered worth taking.
Another calculated gamble was Cooke's approach to the final corner, which led into the hill that climbed to the finish. Approaching this corner she communicated by radio with the team car; her coaches were worried that, in the wet, using the ultra-light tyres, there was a risk of crashing.
A crash would have spelled the end of her challenge for victory. So she decided to take the corner slowly, carefully, losing several lengths to her breakaway companions, but calculating that she could make up the difference. Which she did, winning a memorable sprint to become the first British road cyclist to win Olympic gold.
The skinsuit did not win Cooke the gold medal. The tyres did not win her the gold medal. Nor did her cautious negotiation of the final corner. But taken together, alongside her training and racing programme, the support from her team-mates, and her attention to many other small details, it all added up to a significant advantage - a winning advantage.
Every turn of the pedal a Team Sky rider makes is recorded by a power meter, analysed using performance software and then benchmarked against Kerrisonâs âpower curveâ models.
Last year, for example, Wigginsâs training was assessed against a template for a Tour/Olympic double. The gaps between these two lines on a graph â where Wiggins was and where he needed to be â were where Team Sky directed what Kerrison describes as âcoaching interventionsâ.Measuring power and using it as a training tool is not unique to Team Sky â and neither is it new. But what sets them apart is their total faith in it.â