is it better to....training question?

[wheelnut]

Is it better to have a training coach with one high skill say 15 - 20 and train the whole team in that one skill, maybe swap at some stage to another - pick one of the big four...mountain, flat, hill and downhill or the two supporting skills sprint, TT?

OR

Have a trainer with several training skills up to 15 to customise riders to their hidden abilities or per weight and height of rider? This is more expensive but could help a single rider get dominant in one skill.

OR

Train riders to 'end' roles say sprinter, climber, helper, Leader or GC.

another thought from the above...is it better to get fast training for all skills to 7, then pick to go big on (have enough training time to do this?). Or ignore getting to 7 in everything and just get high in one or two skills (e.g. mountain and hill for climber, sprint and flat for sprinter). Occurs to me by the time you discover the hidden talent in a rider most skills will be 7+ and then no time to max out in the one he is talented in. does this mean you have to gamble?

You will probably detect from all this I dont buy on the TL but develop my own cyclists

[Mike]

You're going to get a lot of different answers.

18y olds: I train all skills untill 4, so they would be mini-allround in u21 competition.
Next step is finding out where they are talented in.

For this kind of training you need a (costly) multiple trainer. But I'm guessing you can't afford it.

So for you I would advise a trainer 15 on the 3 first skills. And build him on sprint or TT gradually.
To make it cheaper maybe start with 2 skills, flat mountain.

That's my opinion but many managers will advise different I guess.

[Ab Normaal]

Wheelnut, it all depends on your strategy. What is it you want to achieve? Do you want to win division 1 or do you want to be a competitive team that can win division 2 and fight for 6nd place in division 1?

Because if you want to win division 1, you need to train your cyclists with trainers 18, 19 or 20, you need to train riders on their good FA's, no good FA on a skill means stop training in that skill. You need all type of riders so you can be competitive in all type of races. But to afford such an expensive trainer, you also need results on the short term.

Do you want to find out asap if a rider has a good FA in the skill you want compared to his height/weight, then you need to train him on that skill only to find out asap or do you want him to ce competitive in U21 races, then you need to train also on sprint and TT.

[wheelnut]

I have such an expensive trainer...15 in all skills other than fitness as do not believe in training that skill anymore.

I guess get a little confused and try train all riders to 7+ then discover no time left in their careers to discover or train the FA.

Training to 4 then picking a skill to test FA is probably a better gamble. Interestingly i used to do it the other way, that is, train say hill for 2/3 seasons then mountain 2/3 seasons etc...problem with that is if I discover FA in hill for some riders then they onyl get limited time being trained in it.