Life In The Slipstream

The Tudor Pro Cycling Team talks about high speeds, high stakes, and high tenacity.

- Stuart Danker

What happens when you compete at the highest level of your sport? You seek out every advantage you can get. And for bicycle racing, one of the biggest advantages you can gain lies in another cyclist's slipstream. This is what the Tudor Pro Cycling Team does as a team, working together to get one of their own across the finish line first.

Four athletes from the team - Arvid de Kleijn, Maikel Zijlaard, Sebastian Changizi, and Rick Pluimers - were in Malaysia to celebrate Tudor's latest boutique opening in Penang. They shared all about their sport and training regimen, and to kick things off, De Kleijn had this to say about teamwork: "Teamwork really does get you to greater places.

Winning as a solo participant is possible, but I would win one out of ten races alone, whereas I would win about six times now with a team." As the designated sprinter, De Kleijn is often set up to cross the finish line first. Yet, just as he relies on his entire team to place on the podium, so too does he share his glory with the other members. "What you see as normal cycling on television actually involves a lot of strategising and nuance. And whenever I win, it is not because of my physical prowess, but years worth of preparation and planning as a team."

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

So how does the team prepare for each season? By cycling some 30,000 kilometres each year, for starters. That is the equivalent of cycling from Malaysia to Switzerland - three times over.