"Who cares about cyclists?! Focus on developing all those that care for riders, and more cyclists will be better cared for."

I am being faceitious, but the serious point is that there should be an analysis of those people "who care about cyclists." Specifically, what roles are key to the development of high performance racers, and is there a plan to "professionalize" them--or improve their performance. For today, I want to talk about coaches, but I'm also thinking about race coaches or director sportifs, strength coaches, nutritionists, club managers, team owners, federations, agents, etc. If we improve the shared knowledge and focus of those that help riders develop, we might produce more high performance cyclists.

In the past few years, I've worked with 10-15 riders with contracts annually, as well as some of the top juniors in the country. Increasingly, I've been focusing on the things OTHER THAN TRAINING PROGRAMS, that help riders achieve their goals. In a previous blog, I argued that North American riders are increasingly outside of visible pathways to professional teams. Coaches need to recognize the things that make their riders less visible; and they need to respond by providing broader support networks to help riders achieve both the results and recognition to get onto professional teams.

In order to develop the ability to help riders in our current context, I needed to address my own needs. For example, this year I consciously reduced the number of riders I'm coaching by 66% so that I could spend more time working on their support networks. To do this, I had to modify the structure of my coaching business. As a private coach, I need a profitable business first--and it must be structured to allow me time to address the increasing needs of high performance cyclists.

It got me thinking: what are the needs of coaches, so that they can do their jobs well? And what are we doing about coaching development in general? Yes, there are certifications we can get, but curiously none address business administration. Are certifications really just for those working for Federations and on salary? If so, they are only serving a tiny number of coaches and not addressing core needs of those training riders in other contexts. Young riders, for example, often coach in clubs. Where do they go from there? Or is it understood that they work in clubs for a couple years then move on... with maybe one every 5 years getting a job from coaching? I may be out of the loop, but I don't know of any broad plan to improve coaching in general and nowadays, talking about Zone 2 all the time is not going to cut it in a high performance context.

Here's my two cents about how we might better develop a professional class of cycling coaches in Canada. My thoughts emerge from a report I recently submitted to Bridge the Gap about a possible new initiative: a Coaching Mentorship Program.

At the end of 2023, Kevin Field asked if I was interested in "mentoring" Nick Bergen, who runs the Provincial Cycling Program at the Manitoba Cycling Association. Nick and I would co-coach Adam Smith, a promising Junior rider from Winnipeg, as a "pilot" for the Coaching Mentorship program. The result was a great success. Nick and I now have an active working relationship that informs my daily thinking about coaching, and Adam Smith went on to represent Canada at the World Championships, while signing a contract with CC Étupes for 2025.

Quick aside: I can't say enough about Bridge the Gap and the role its Board Members take in their thoughtful, proactive helping of so many athletes, teams, coaches and staff. Bridge the Gap is crucial to any thinking about development and cycling in Canada.

Here are some of my "Closing Thoughts" from the report, which I've lightly edited. I described my understanding of four contexts in which Canadian coaches operate, and some of their needs.

Cycling coaches in Canada operate in 4 contexts:

1. Cycling federations: programming and reporting responsibilities that exceed coaching responsibilities for chunks of the year; working with multi-disciplinary groups of athletes and to my knowledge, no time/money allotment for professional development. Most development, therefore, comes from their personal network and extra time they put in. I’ve had multiple, project-based meetings about development with Pascal Choquette, Nick Bergen and Richard Wooles; and occasional meetings with Petrina Tulusi. These are extra time out of their day; or in excess of their responsibilities. Mentorship would take place in this “extra time/work” space of their days; and I estimate a minimum of 70h of work--not including any research or prep.

2. Coaches with clubs: I have talked consistently over the years with Nicolas Masbourian, who is an incredible coach and builder. He has led campaigns to build a cycling centre in Laval; race organizer (cadet Coupe de l’avenir); worked as a DS for Cycling Canada; grew club membership during Covid; organizes training on the track in Bromont; and coaches riders PLUS the coaches working for the club. He recently told me that he is only now able to find time to think more about his own coaching development, and has reached out to me and other coaches for advice. He could both benefit from mentorship and be a mentor. He has 3% of his hours earmarked for Development (~54h). I’m not sure if this is the case with other club coaches. Another important pool of club-like coaches are within schools. Ex Pascal Morin and Isabelle Gagnon coach within the Sports Études program in QC. Aside from the basic needs of coaches, they also need support with equipment acquistion and maintenance, periodization within school schedules, pedagogy... etc

3. Professional Team coaches/physiologists/race coaches: Paulo Saldhana, Chris Rozdilsky, Sean Wilson, Gillian Ellsay, etc. Perhaps the best positioned to be mentors. They could either integrate coaches into the review process of riders, their assessment and coaching. Those positioned with pro teams might have hours in their contract for development… or it would be helpful to link their mentoring of young coaches to the idea of giving back. Mentorship or at the very least, knowledge-sharing, is key to establsihing the core goals of any Development Program. What do riders need to be able to do to get on professional teams? Not just rider profiles, but how can NA riders be visible to teams in today's Euro-centric cycling world?

4. Private coaches: Pierre Hutsebault, Richard Wooles, Leah Kirchman and so many others. In the past, other national federations have had coaches working with a max of 5 athletes during an Olympic Cycle. The coach reported weekly to an oversight panel (my term) of coaches/specialists responsible for physiology, mental health, nutrition, equipment, training/tactics, etc all overseen by the head of performance. In a recent podcast, Peter Leo seems to suggest AIS does the same. If this is the professional context of high performance, how can private coaches be integrated into a development program?

Assuming a private coach could coordinate or provide the resources that a World Tour team or National Federation funded by Olympic Cycles, they would be responsible for all the admin of oversight and getting people together for assessments/evaluations. Doing the math for private coaching: 5 riders x the average monthly coaching fee of $300 = $1500/m or $18k a year--and you would effectively be an administrator more than a coach. If a private coach wants to make ~$100k / year, they need to coach 30 riders.

The mentorship of private coaches, therefore, must include business administration at its core to allow the coach a living-wage while focusing on only 5-10 athletes. The failure to integrate business admin into private coaching development is almost fatal to the development of a professional coaching class. I've attended several certification programs where I am the only coach who makes their living in cycling. The rest are parents or members of the fitness industry. Many ex-Pros start coaching, but it often becomes a side hustle.

If we believe better coaching can help riders get better, it is important to understand the contexts that coaches currently operate. This way, Mentors or "training" can be aware that the focus is not just on the athlete’s journey but the coach’s development as well.

For example: high performance mentorship at the club level would involve recruitment/outreach to schools etc/interfaces with sports organizations and local business/ meetings with parents / marketing / fund rasing/ plus programming, internal coaching development and certification; financial reporting; infrastructure… AND THEN… discussion of what Cadets and Juniors need to be doing to develop as athletes, but also as people who love activity and outdoor sports (beyond LTAD).

So who are the key club mentors in Canada? I'm going to start throwing out names and many will be left out but you'll get the idea: Nicolas Masbourian and Petrina Tulusi would be awesome. Considering that everyone at the World Tour is talking about HP Cadets and Juniors… the role of clubs in development is increasingly important. What would a Canadian version be like? Would it be more attune to mental health; broader themes of happiness; multi-sport participation etc in part because of our winters and less-developed cycling culture? These questions are already answered in many long-term development models, but can we attach them to a "club development program"?

Federation mentors: Luc Arseneau. Pascal Choquette, Louis Barbeau, Nick Bergen... how about a working group of Federation coaches outlining shared programming and addressing shared obstacles ? There is a powerhouse growing in Alberta right now of coaches whose insights would be invaluable across the country, including Petrina Tulusi (Again!), Leah Kirchman, Tanya Dubnicoff, Kinley Gibson.

Pro Team: see above… and maybe Alec Cataford once he settles in to IPT. Kevin Simms could mentor any coach trying to run a Junior / Cadet team. Ex-pros who are coaching, like Leah, could also be great mentors.

Private: We need people who have survived in business for a while, or left a federation and not doing it as a side-hustle… Paulo Saldhana, Yanick Bedard, Steve Neel, John Marois. Joanie Caron, Pierre Lemay, Leslie Tomlinson (tho she doesn’t coach, she is one of the few who have successfully run indoor studios and teams), myself... What is the status of the indoor studio post-covid? What are key needs in terms of staffing and business admin? What networks can assist so that there is time to focus on coaching development?

In sum, imagine if a coaching development program was organized around both the Athlete’s Journey and the Coach’s Journey? Mentors would need assessment categories and parameters relevant to the coach’s context. Now imagine working groups of active coaches from all contexts above that shared key development goals over 4-6 year periods, practical knowledge about how to create conditions for the development of Cadets, Juniors, U23s… The coaching devo program could–at little cost--make a significant contribution to practical knowledge exchange, networking amongst coaches and cycling in Canada. It doesn't surprise me that the Board at Bridge the Gap is getting the ball rolling. It would be great if the provincial and national federations got more involved.

It's great that we have individual female cyclists that can produce 300w for 30-60 min... it would be even better to have a cycling culture that supports the development of cohorts, not just individuals. A shared coaching development program would be a huge step towards achieving that goal.