Nico, you have been training hard for the first time since 2002, why is this?
The bike racing was working OK, but only OK. It was physically difficult. 2006 was OK but after that in ‘08 and ‘09 I realized I was not so good.
Because?Of the car racing mainly, I rode my bike, but not with any goals, I like to ride bikes but without a focus it’s difficult.
A hard winter last season (2009/2010)?Yes I did a hard winter and I did not do a complete season in the rally car. I knew that the new downhill bike would arrive so I had to train to be in good shape to develop it and have a good feeling. And it worked well, but seriously I started from quite far back physically. It was really difficult at the beginning. I improved quite well but probably I did too much because I was really motivated for the first time in eight years. I was really happy to train and ride and everything like it was before. I was young again.
Why was it difficult to begin?Because when you start from far back you really realize there is a lot to do to get a good level. You train and it’s coming slowly and you start to feel good, but the problem is that your body takes time to recover and your body is not used to training for so many hours during the week and you feel it. I was focused and motivated and it was OK, OK, OK, OK…but in April I think that I started to have no benefit. I was motivated and didn’t stop when I needed too. People tell me “don’t forget that you are older than before and you recover less” but I think it’s more the fact that my body had worked really hard up until 2002 and then I started doing it again after a long break and the body was like…“hey come on, ease up. Go easy.”
What was your focus?My focus was to get good at enduro but also to get a good level at downhill back for me…for my pleasure, just to feel good on a bike. My focus was to train hard to feel good on a bike. It’s really good when you have a good feeling on a bike (feeling it at this point)…a good sensation and I train mostly for this.
What is that good feeling and what preparation is involved to attain that?
It’s technically but also physically. My biggest problem, and it’s getting better, is going fast for over two minutes. I remember before that I was finishing races almost with a smile, and when the other riders were exhausted I was fine. And this I really forgot about because it was a long time ago. To get it…I now realize it’s incredible. And this is something I learned in 2007 at Champery. After one minute in Champery, where you don’t have to pedal, I was dead. No power in the steep parts to keep me on high lines…one minute, one thirty, I was gone. And even in 2009 when I did a race at the beginning of the year it was one thirty, but after one minute I start to breathe heavy, I didn’t breathe too well…its like it was too strong for me ..the effort was too powerful.
Breathing too hard at the start of the race?I don’t know, OK I stopped downhill for many years but I still rode bikes and raced enduro, but downhill is more aggressive and you have to go fast and maybe to go fast I didn’t breathe, I don’t know, but now it’s starting to be better.
So what exactly is involved in your preparation?I did like before…well not like before. I rode cross–country, I did power lifting…it was not enough. I didn’t do BMX, I didn’t do motocross.
Power lifting?Yes, I have never been really strong, but I was always doing power lifting – I’m far from where I was before but I think when you train like this you can catch everything in one year. I don’t want to mention the numbers I was doing before with lifting, but this year it was still good but thirty percent less than previous.
Stefan Girard, your trainer for much of your career, once said that the reason you were so good (different to everyone else) was that you were very, very good at different elements and not brilliant at one aspect. What technical and physical preparation do you have to do. What’s involved to achieve a high level in each of those things? Is there a structure to your work? How do you know what elements need working on?For example at the moment if I was thinking about competing I really don’t feel ready because I feel not very good physically for downhill, I’m not strong enough for three or more minutes. Shit in the jumps…(laughs) but yeah it’s true I need to do more BMX…not more even…I need to do BMX! When I was racing I was not so good at jumps either, but I did BMX and then it was OK. I remember that turning was natural for me, even if I didn’t practice during the winter for two months. But even if I stopped riding I could get back on and do turns fast. But jump, if I didn’t do them regularly, I lose everything. So at Champery last year for example there are a lot of roots and jumping in the air, and as a rider you have to look at yourself and say “yes OK, I’m not bad but not really good” and ask why? Maybe previously I had too much braking with the front brake, maybe I didn’t look at what I had to do. You can always improve every year because you have the knowledge of the race and you can say “OK, I was good here but this is missing and I have to train here”. Or train too much in middle of season and I was tired.
