Today Bakala Academy and KU Leuven present the 'Bakala Academy – Athletic Performance Center'. The academy is a research- and testing center of excellence raised from a long-term joint venture between ZB Sports Development and KU Leuven. Together they aim to build a 'Center of Excellence' in sport science and coaching. The academy wants to distinguish as a world-class academy for research, innovation and education in sports. This ambitious project houses in a new building on KU Leuven's University Sport Centre campus, near the Faculty of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences (FaBeR). The center will be operational in September 2013.
The functions of the 'Bakala Academy – Athletic Performance Center' are threefold. Our department 'Research and Development' is the core of the Academy and the place where all the innovations are being born. Our team works on developing innovative methods to enhance sport performance. The 'Education' Center will attract scholars with diverse backgrounds in the fields of sport and science. It will give a platform for exchange of ideas and knowledge that will have a direct benefit to the sport development. At last, in our 'Testing' Center every athlete of each level will find the right advice for his personal purpose.
Professor Hespel: "We want to offer top athletes every available form of testing and support, all grounded in scientific knowledge. The aim, of course, is to improve performance. Initially the centre will focus on endurance sports like cycling, triathlon and running, but we also want to broaden our research and apply our expertise optimally to other sports. Additionally, we want to become an important focus point for talent detection and the development of young cyclists.
The 'Bakala Academy – Athletic Performance Center' also houses an Altitude Center with 6 guestrooms and enough living and recreational space to create a comfortable habitat at simulated altitude. Elite athletes can reside in our center and simulate by example a training camp at an altitude of 4.000m. By exposuring the body to hypoxic air there'll be an advanced production of red blood cells. They don't have to go abroad and are able to keep doing training sessions at sea level.
Zdenek Bakala: "I am very pleased that we have been able to join with KU Leuven and develop what will be a magnificent sports research facility where Professor Hespel and his team will be able to pursue their pioneering work with professional athletes. Our objective is to create an academy of excellence to promote research and development and high-level education in cycling performance, as well as contribute to the development of sports within an international, cultural and economic perspective. The Academy's work will be inspired by research and innovation."
Bakala Presented with OPQS World TTT Championship trophy
Mr. Bakala was also presented with the Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 2012 UCI World TTT Championship Trophy. OPQS Manager Patrick Lefevere said it was important to provide Mr. Bakala the inaugural World TTT Championship Trophy, to symbolize the new vision of the team, which has resulted in 54 victories in three disciplines so far this season.
"I know how far we have come from where we started," Lefevere said on Thursday. "We started OPQS together with Mr. Bakala, and now, with our sponsors, we are in a good place. We improved our results, our performances, and also earned a historic TTT World Championship. This is important, and we prefer to give this to Mr. Bakala for him to keep in his office. This trophy represents our success."