What UAE Does Differently - Domestique Hotseat Podcast w. Rune Herregodts

Rune Herregodts has one month of his Belgian national champion's jersey behind him, and he is out of contract at the end of the season. 

In this episode he tells Aidan Burgess that he expects to leave UAE Team Emirates XRG, that he is talking to a few teams, and that there should be news quite quickly.

Before that, he takes us inside the strongest team in the world. He explains why UAE keep December training camps deliberately relaxed, with no crazy interval sessions and no weighing food, so that riders can hold the stricter plans all season. 

He explains the racing philosophy in one line: they race to win and they train to train, and a race is never treated as preparation. He describes what a domestique at UAE is actually paid to do, which is mostly positioning, and why the modern peloton is decided before the climb rather than on it.

He is also open about the parts that are less comfortable. The jersey brings expectations, and he admits there are days when he would rather the camera found someone in a neutral kit. 

Team Flanders, the team that made him a professional, is losing its Flemish government funding, and he says plainly that without it some riders who have the potential will never turn professional at all.

There is plenty for the equipment obsessives too. He compares the Colnago Y1Rs with the V4 and puts a number on the difference between a full aero bike and a full climbing bike. 

He also explains why he raised his handlebars by two centimetres rather than a few millimetres. And he describes the treadmill the whole sport is now on, where altitude camps and heat training no longer win you anything, they only stop you losing.