Britains most famous cycling team has been coming to Mallorca for well over a decade, and December of 2023 was no different. Here we take a look at exactly how the squad prepare for the season ahead, and who has the craziest sessions.
The annual encampment started in Port Pollenca, with David Brailsford at the helm following the outrageous successes of London 2012. Since then the camp has moved south to Port Alcudia, and Bradley Wiggins has joked that 'Alcudia is where champions are made mate!". Though if you've ever listened to the "Watts Occurring?" podcast from Gerraint & Luke, you'll know that for some of the riders it's known as a bit of a grind house - heavy days, unpredictable weather, and a lot of planning meetings. Don't give them too much sympathy though as they also have the Christmas party, which is famous for its fancy dress and open bar. This years biggest headline though, was when Egan Bernal broke ranks and posted the new kit 3 days before it's official release!
Suffice to say, 'Sign On for '24' was an absolute belter, and we certainly can't wait to have the team (and their Grenadiers!) cruising up and down the Mallorcan roads again soon.
Pretty much everyone. This isn't just a camp for the riders, it's evolved into an annual kick-off for the entire company. If you've worked in tech you're probably familiar with the approach; a heavy schedule of setting goals, strategy & tactics with a big blow out party at the end (and normally one or two newbies ending up in the pool!).
So here it is, a list of rides that various riders completed on each of the 12 days of 2023's winter training camp. We did an awful lot of Strava stalking to find you a mix of session types, across some of the most talked about riders . So if you want to train like a pro, here's how you can start!
Day 3 | with Leo Hayter
The Ineos Grenadiers Training Camp in Mallorca is considerably smaller than it used to be, and as cycling continues to evolve at speed we may well see more and more of the training happen mainland, at altitude or even on Zwift. Who knows what the future holds for the team, but we believe that 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'... and our insiders tell us that 2025 is a sure bet. SO here's to one more round of flat whites and banana bread hey boys?..
***UPDATE - 2024 Camp was split up into several seperate events starting with the kick off in Manchester. It looks like mainland Spain and a wider variety of lcoations for different riders is on the cards. Lot's of changes are afoot at the INEOS Grenadiers and we'll be supporting them all the way! ***
We would all love to meet our hero's, and it's great to hear plenty of tales of the Grenadiers dishing out the positive vibes in Mallorca. We heard about some of the squad doing a surprise turn with a local school cycling club a few years back... Some of the guys working out at the local public gym and swimming with the local sea swimmers club. One thing we can definitely confirm is that just like the rest of us, these super humans love to #RideWithMates and #GiveItTheBiscuits.
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