Half of the squad's riders spent the past two weeks around Alpen Village, in Livigno.
While a good part of the team is preparing for the final stages of the Tour de France, another big chunk has just finished off a hard block of training in the mountains around Alpen Village in Livigno, Italy. In total, 13 Quick-Step Floors riders took part in the intensive preparation for the second part of the season, in which the team wants to display the same winning attitude which has been present from the beginning of the year, making us again the most successful outfit in the World Tour.
A two-week altitude training camp has been on the menu for the riders attending it. Koen Pelgrim, the trainer of Quick-Step Floors Cycling Team, explained how the camp in Livigno was strategically planned from the beginning of the year and the important role it plays in getting the riders ready for the demanding second part of the season.
"Most of the guys come out of a pretty busy racing period, and then, during the Tour, there are almost no races. Some of them return to racing this month, and some start a little bit later, but they all have certain goals in the second part of the season, so coming to Livigno is a good opportunity to prepare before it really kicks off again", Koen said. "In Livigno, the riders benefit from the high altitude, perfect weather conditions and the nice training roads, which of course invite to a lot of climbing and hard intervals. We were lucky enough to stay at Hotel Bivio, which is located in the center of the cycling paradise and that was really nice."
Koen also explained what's next for these riders: "The main objective for the camp was to improve the riders' general condition and get a big block of hard training under the belt. Now, after the camp, they have time to train and prepare for the more specific goals each of them have in the upcoming weeks and months before the season will come to an end."
Julian Alaphilippe, who has been sidelined in the past three months due to a knee injury, was one of the riders who took part in the team's recent training camp, and for the 25-year-old Frenchman it was more than just hard work: "The training camp was really nice because we were so many riders together, which is something rare during the long and busy season. At the same time, the location was beautiful and the conditions perfect, all these making for a really good block of work and a nice experience as well."
The Quick-Step Floors Team riders who took part in the Livigno altitude training camp: Julian Alaphilippe, Eros Capecchi, Rémi Cavagna, Laurens De Plus, Tim Declercq, Dries Devenyns, Bob Jungels, Iljo Keisse, Davide Martinelli, Enric Mas, Pieter Serry, Niki Terpstra, Petr Vakoč.
Photo credit: ©BrakeThrough Media
