The UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) in Aigle, Switzerland, is the elite coaching and training centre based at the headquarters of cycling’s world governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). When WCC director Frédéric Magné was looking for a tool to help his coaches and athletes across the globe perform a range of testing protocols he turned to the Wattbike.
With its developmental roots firmly set in the unprecedented success of British Cycling over the last two decades and an unrivalled level of accuracy combined with the sensation of riding a real bike, the Wattbike has become the indoor bike of choice for coaches and athletes across the sporting spectrum.
The UCI WCC has already received a suite of 10 Wattbikes at its Swiss centre, and will expand this reach with further Wattbikes appearing at its satellite centres including South Africa, Japan and Republic of Korea.
“Thanks to the Wattbike's built-in training protocols, the UCI WCC coaches can replicate testing and workouts worldwide at our satellite centres," explained Magné. "The information gained can be shared immediately, which is extremely valuable both for talent identification and to add consistency to the riders' training: for example, we can compare a workout in Switzerland with a workout in South Africa in a matter of minutes.”
The remit of the UCI WCC covers a wide range of cycling disciplines from road, track and BMX through to cyclo-cross and mountain biking. And while the development of riders is a key objective, the education of coaches remains fundamental to helping the development of the sport on a global basis. “The Wattbikes also provide added value to the Coach Development Programme, which is the UCI education programme for coaches,” said Magné. “Exposure to this precious training tool is valuable for the coaches participating in these coaching courses and in turn will benefit the athletes they coach in their own countries.”
John Wilson, marketing director at Wattbike, said: “The UCI World Cycling Centre’s commitment to the Wattbike is yet another fantastic example of how the bike is viewed among the elite sporting community. The bar is set extraordinarily high when it comes to providing equipment at the elite level and we’ve once again exceeded the expectations of elite coaches. Whether you are coaching a future world champion in the higher echelons of sport or working with clients to help them be fitter and healthier in a gym, the Wattbike provides an accurate and cost-effective training and testing solution and an all-round fantastic riding experience.”
For more information on Wattbike please click here, and for more on the UCI World Cycling Centre click here.
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