The INEOS Grenadiers’ future success is in good hands with exciting young riders like Magnus Sheffield on the roster. The 20-year-old American wheeled away with the best young rider’s white jersey and fourth overall at the 2023 Tour Down Under in January. Despite crashing in the stage 1 sprint and enduring a high-profile spat with Australian Michael Matthews, Sheffield showed his mettle, reinforcing his World Tour potential. Sheffield is yet to ride in a Grand Tour but even after handling the dramas of the WorldTour opener like a seasoned tour veteran, he knows it’ll be no joy ride. “Grand Tours are the pinnacle of endurance sports, with it being 21 days with just two rest days. I think the longest race I’ve done is seven or eight days, so GTs are substantially longer and harder than any race I’ve ever done. It’s definitely a big goal of mine to do this season and something that I really look forward to doing, hopefully.” Make no mistake though, Sheffield is built for professional cycling. Endurance athletes are a different breed, and to excel at a world class level takes a special kind of mental and physical fortitude. It also helps if you love what you do. “I love endurance more than I like a sprint because there’s a bit more of a process, a bit more suffering. I think endurance athletes are quite a bit different to more skill-based athletes. You definitely have to be quite disciplined, being self-driven is super important because a lot of times we have to be out training by ourselves so you definitely have to be comfortable, you have to like that. You have to be willing to suffer. THAT TIME AT PARIS-ROUBAIX There’s been a few times in training where I’ve just hit the wall and I felt like I had to push that extra bit to just get home. In a race, Paris–Roubaix was one that was just extra hard because of the terrain, the cobblestones, and everyone’s trying just to finish the race to say they’ve done Roubaix and they’ve made it to the velodrome. You see guys just falling down one by one and it’s really a race of last man standing. That’s definitely one of my darkest or hardest days on the bike so far.” In recent years science has become as much a part of professional cycling as the peloton. Amongst other aspects of the sport, nutrition is informed by it to optimise performance day in and day out. Younger athletes like Sheffield accept it as part and parcel of cycling and invest as much time in fuelling as they do in the saddle. “Without proper nutrition I think it’s impossible to even finish any kind of endurance sport or event. I would say everyone knows that feeling of bonking and I’ve definitely made a lot of mistakes in my short career. I used to think a three-hour ride was so long, but the more accustomed I got to it with proper fuelling it helped me develop and push through and progress as an athlete through these races.” HOW HE RECOVERS AFTER A LONG DAY ON THE BIKE Science also informs optimum recovery, which is something many athletes have to learn to place an emphasis on, particularly as they age. As we now know, recovery is a vitally important process with many elements to it and the quality of an individual’s recovery directly determines how they perform the next day. “I like to take the time to spin the legs down slowly, and it’s more about feeling better the next day than cooling down for that day. That’s something this team takes quite seriously, the preparation day after day. You have to be looking at not just that day but the next day, trying to recover and fuel correctly because you may be able to finish that day but you’re trying to get the most of yourself the next day as well.” By his own admission, Sheffield has a lot to learn. The younger the athlete, the steeper the learning curve. But Sheffield is intelligent, mature, talented and disciplined. Plus, he’s surrounded by the likes of Geraint Thomas, Filippo Ganna, Dylan Van Baarle and Luke Rowe to learn from, to name a few. “I’m still in an early phase in my career where I’d like to continue developing as a rider and learning from my teammates and contributing to the team success. But I’d really like to win time trial worlds and continue pushing and developing my ability. I came close this season with winning a stage race.” Make a note of his name. Magnus Sheffield. He’s one of the most exciting prospects on the Grenadiers’ roster. And after narrowly missing out on a podium in Australia, he’s keen to capitalise on his momentum going into the spring classics. MAGNUS SHEFFIELD’S POST-RACE RECOVERY Usually, we finish the race and the carrier (team car) we see directly and they hand us a water or soda, so usually we take that right on the finish line seconds after crossing. Then the recovery process starts, so it’s about optimising that time, especially as we have a few different phases. In phase one we like to think about hydrating properly, then it’s trying to get adequate carbs and protein. After that we’re off the [turbo] bike, and after a short spin down we’re on the bus and we’ll have some carbs, maybe something a bit more complex, so either chicken or pasta or fish – whatever the chefs have cooked up for us. It’s more trying to intake it slowly rather than just opening the fridge and devouring everything, so it’s about intaking slowly to help aid the recovery process. From there we’re usually on the bus to the hotel where we get a massage, which is a big part, and any kind of treatment from the physio, which also aids in the recovery. Then we usually have dinner, which is more kind of vegetables or pastas with lean proteins, and then also some yogurt or fruit. Then, before bed, if it’s going to be a hard day the next day then it’s about taking some overnight protein. It’s also about optimising sleep, so that can also be with antioxidants and anti-inflammatories or even things like melatonin. Written By The Performance Solutions Team
