The BH Suntour Peisey-Vallandry team cross trains(Image credit: Pierre Lebreton)
The BH Suntour Peisey-Vallandry team of 2011 cross country World Cup winner Julie Bresset held a winter training camp from January 14 to 21 at the CGH L'orée des Cimes résidence in Peisey-Vallandry, France. Racers enjoyed some quality time spent together doing off-the-bike kinds of activities to prepare for the 2012 mountain bike race season.
"It was good timing to break from long road training, but we continued to improve cardio-vascular and muscular functions with cross training in a great environment," said the team's Deputy Manager Pierre Lebreton to Cyclingnews. "Each year, when the riders return back home, they feel like they were on holiday although they trained a lot."
The team enjoyed a stay in the mountain village, a good place for training in both the winter and summer. Activities included skiing, snowshoing and training in the onsite fitness room followed by recovery in the spa. In warmer weather, the team sometimes enjoys summer training at the same location given the wide range of trails and beautiful, nearby French road climbs (like the Col de l'Iseran and Cormet de Roselend).
Two of the team's top racers, Maxime Marotte and Ruben Scheire, will start season in Cyprus at the Sunshine Cup.
Bresset will start her season a bit later. "She gets in to shape quite quickly, and her objectives are far later," said Lebreton. "She will race around home and train hard."
The entire team will make its collective start to the season in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Both the squad's cross country and marathon riders will be there. The first World Cup and the first French Cup in Saint Rapahël are among the first scheduled races of 2012 for the team.
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Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews. She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.
