It’s an incredibly complex business. While a strength and conditioning coach will work wonders, if they fail to recognise the aspects of your life outside the gymnasium the race will only be one way – to fatigue and failure, a spent body in no condition to be at the sharp end of racing. Over the years I’ve had many coaches who simply have not taken into account the amount of riding I do, often replicating the kind of workout I do on a bike but in the gym.

It’s often a case of if you require a life plan or a race plan. There is a difference. A good coach will take your lifestyle into account and make a plan that identifies and recognises the stresses being put on your body on a daily basis. He or she will also tune the training to suit the racing. This will build you up for the race before recovering, regrouping and building back up.

A good coach might even take you to places you’d never dreamed of. Last year while under the guidance of Alan Milway he noticed an alignment issue in my body which he suggested I should get looked at. I took his advice and signed up to see a specialist he’d recommended.

Within minutes of lying on the bench in a room the man in the white coat and strong specs said to me “what’s it been like walking around in circles for so long?” After ten years of scans and medications he had identified a twisted pelvis, and after a few more minutes a knee issue that had probably gone back to early bike days. Today, my back and neck have never felt so good.