Philosophy and the process
Trust and development of an athlete/coach relationship, working towards a common, clearly outlined goal. I believe this is the best approach to coaching, and the best way to get the athlete onboard with the process and trusting the coach. Your happiness, enjoyment of cycling, and fulfilment are the single most important factor in performance, and helping you to build an environment where you can thrive on and off the bike is the ultimate goal.
Whether you are tackling your first race, group ride, breaking a long standing PB, or pursing a professional contract, or to be a world champion, we start every single training plan the same. We take that goal, however big or small, break it down into its individual components, and work out to best way to prepare you physically and mentally for each of those components. Once that is established, we build a long term training plan, which is reduced down to daily manageable improvement.
This plan is built to fit in and around your life off the bike, work, family, and social commitments and being able to manage them, and balance them with training is the key to maximising performance and meeting those goals.
Meet the Coach
I moved to Spain at eighteen years old, aided by the Dave Rayner Foundation, to pursue my dreams of being a professional cyclist. I split my time between winters working and training in the UK, then racing through summer in Spain. I have first hand experience of what Junior and U23 riders strive for, at the first rungs of the professional cycling ladder. Having been there, and done that, I have knowledge and an understanding you cannot get through a text book.
Having spent multiple years living and breathing the sport racing full time, taking wins, and a handful of jerseys along the way, I know what the sport takes. In my ten plus years of elite cycling, across multiple countries, competing in UCI and international level events, I have made all the mistakes, learnt from them, and developed into what it takes to compete and understand the sport. Based out of the Basque Country for seven seasons, I have been surrounded by cycling culture and professionalism while riding for multiple teams and be surrounded by riders from all over the world. I have the a keen interest in sports science and physiology, which coupled with my first hand experience in the sport lends itself well to coaching.
Building an open and honest connection with my athletes is of upmost importance to me. Being a coach is a constant learning process and searching out the latest studies and research allows me to continually improve and stay at the forefront of training methods. Knowing that I do not know it all keeps the coaching challenging and unique problems and scenarios presented by athletes allows me to keep on learning and helping others. Expanding my knowledge through my athletes is a great perk of the job
Max Williamson