If there’s one way to get athletes talking, it’s to ask them about their flow experiences. They sit up, smile, and recall incredibly vivid experiences they will cherish for the rest of the lives. In many ways, flow states are the big reward that keep us going. Kind of like the panoramic view at the top of a mountain that makes the arduous climb worthwhile. Flow states are a basic human potential. They are available to all of us, not only elite athletes, musicians and artists. With a little knowledge, dedication and practice, we can increase the likelihood of having a flow state experience. According to mental coach Markus Arvaja, flow states are thoroughly immersive experiences. In his work with top ice hockey, football and tennis players, he tries to put in place the conditions that make flow states, when performance becomes almost effortless, more likely. Markus is a certified sports psychology consultant and senior lecturer in coaching at Finland’s Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences. Click here to read our article explaining the science flow states! No challenge, no flow “First,” Markus says, “you need to have a feeling of being challenged, but that you have the competency and self confidence to handle it.” It’s a delicate balance. If the challenge is too great, and you feel out of your depth, lacking the skills for an activity, then it’s unlikely you will experience a flow state. There’s simply too much mental activity happening. On the other hand, if the task is too easy, and the challenge is too low, then you are likely to be bored, also making flow state unlikely. The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle. So consider what might be a reasonable challenge for you, one that you feel confident in your skills and ability to take on. Feel positive The next essential condition for flow state experiences is motivation. “It helps if you can achieve your optimal arousal,” Markus explains. “You need to feel that you are really into the activity.” There’s another balance here. One extreme is boredom, the other is being too excited, almost nervous with anticipation. In the middle is relaxed enthusiasm. One way to achieve this is to remember the reasons you love your sport, what it gives you, a few minutes before you perform. Or maybe listening to music motivates you. Automate the skill set The reason top athletes and musicians experience flow is because they have put in the countless hours necessary to master their chosen activities. Whatever your sport, you need to have automated the skills required to experience flow. The action should come naturally from the body without any need for thinking or assesment. “If you don’t trust your technique, it’s hard to achieve the flow,” Markus says. “It’s important you train so much that you are well prepared and can get let go and let it happen. The moment you start to think too much, it’s hard to be in the flow.” One thought at a time Did we mention that thinking too much might obstruct a flow state? In the mindfulness movement, teachers talk about the “monkey mind”. Like we often jump from one thought to another, a monkey jumps from branch to branch incessantly. Constant thinking is tiring and distracting. “One good thing to do is to shift your focus to the activity at hand,” Markus says. “For example, if you are a tennis player, you could totally concentrate on moving your feet. It helps to concentrate on one or two things only. If you can do that, you might start to notice the flow. Just play the game and enjoy!” Have a plan Having a plan is very helpful, Markus says. For example, if you’re going to run a trail race, the plan might include having your own guidelines for pace, fuelling and heart rate. Well before the race, you might study the course, even train on it to get familiar, so on race day you know when to push and when to take it easy. “Make a plan at home,” Markus says. “That’s what we do in team sports. The less you think on the day, the better you perform.” Practice mindfulness “Mindfulness certainly helps,” Markus says. “If your mind is free of worry, and unnecessary thoughts, you can stay in the present moment. It’s good to learn to quiet the mind, to turn off the inner critic. Learn to simplify and focus on one thing.” Play! Yes, it’s important to have goals, to have a plan, to automate skills, and to be motivated. But if we get too serious, we risk getting too severe with ourselves and then the sport we once loved can feel like a strain. “Just play!” Markus always tells his clients. “It helps when you are positive and having fun. You can’t force the flow!”    

Race organizer Ulrich Grill explains the 2019 route at a press conference. © zooom.at / Red Bull Content Pool When the race organizers of Red Bull X-Alps announced the 1138 km route for the ninth edition of the race, many athletes felt it is the most challenging yet. Race veteran Paul Guschlbauer, for example, said crossing the Alps from Germany to Italy, while facing strong winds, will demand every bit of his skill and strength. “We still have so much snow in the Alps and there’s only four weeks to go,” Paul says. “It was snowing down in the city a couple of days ago, and we have to go up to 2500 m, crossing it by foot if we can’t fly. When there is so much snow in the high mountains the thermal uplifts we need to fly don’t develop. It could be tricky up there!” Click here to read about Paul and his quest to catch the Eagle! There are only 1138 Suunto 9 Baro Red Bull X-Alps Limited Edition pieces. One for every kilometer of the race!    The Red Bull X-Alps is an adventure race unlike any other. In the 2019 edition of the race, starting June 16, 32 athletes from 20 nations around the world will attempt to hike and fly across the length and breadth of the Alps, checking in at 13 turnpoints along the way. If the weather doesn’t play ball, they must hike insane daily distances with massive vertical gain.   With nearly double the number of turnpoints than in previous editions, and five zigzag crossings of the Alps, the athletes are going to be pushed to their ultimate potential. And fans are in for a treat. For adventure sports fans, this race is almost addictive to follow. The live tracking system allows fans to follow their favourite athletes in real time. The race crosses through five alpine nations – Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France – and whole villages come out and cheer the athletes as soon as they see via live tracking they are passing through. To give you a sense of the sheer audacity and scale of this race, here’s a preview of the route! Salzburg to Gaisberg Distance covered: 5 km It’s race tradition to start in Mozartplatz in Salzburg, Austria, surrounded by the classical and natural beauty of this historic alpine city. The first turnpoint is only five kilometers away, but don’t let that fool you. Athletes must race up Gaisberg (1288 m) carrying their paragliding packs. It’s important athletes pace themselves well here, and catch a good thermal to carry them onwards. Every race, fans assemble at the top of Gaisberg and wait for the athletes to cheer them on. Gaisberg to Wagrain-Kleinarl Distance covered: 59 km It might not seem like a long way, but remember the numbers alone don’t show the skill and precision this race demands. In this section, the athletes must navigate through a small flight path across a mountain range, while avoiding the Salzburg airport restricted airzone. At most turnpoints, athletes must sign their names on a signboard. The second turnpoint signboard is located right in town. Wagrain-Kleinarl to Aschau Distance covered: 148 km One a clear day some of the best competitors might reach this third turnpoint in Aschau (615 m), Germany on the first day. Most will reach it on the second, after crossing the Hochkonig mountain group. Consider this leg the quiet before the storm; next they must make their first crossing of the Alps, from Germany south to Italy. Aschau to Kronplatz Distance covered: 268 km Snow covered peaks, glaciers, the Italian Dolomites, fierce winds all put the pressure on in this leg. The fourth turnpoint is located at the top of Kronplatz, a 2275 m mountain, making careful flying incredibly important. Misjudge, and the athletes might land in a valley, and have to slog up to the top. Land in the wrong place, and athletes have to hike to a launch spot. © Felix Woelk / Red Bull Content Pool Kronplatz to Lermoos-Tiroler Zugspitz Arena Distance covered: 381 km After one epic crossing of the Alps, athletes must turn back, and cross north again. Strong northern winds are common, making for challenging flying. Adding to the challenge is the restricted airspace zone around Innsbruck, Austria, requiring a diversion north into Germany. The fifth turnpoint is reachable only after circumnavigating Zugspitze (2962 m), Germany’s highest peak! Lermoos-Tiroler Zugspitz Arena to Davos Distance covered: 483 km The meeting place of the world’s tremendously wealthy, Davos, Switzerland, gets tremendously exciting as the athletes fly through, landing by the lake to sign the sixth turnpoint signboard. From this point on, the weather begins to play an even bigger role. Red Bull X-Alps demands precision piloting. © Felix Woelk / Red Bull Content Pool Davos to Titlis Distance covered: 592 km Bad weather is every athlete’s worst nightmare in this leg. Unflyable, and they have to hike to the top of Titlis mountain (3238 km) to sign the board at the seventh turnpoint. Restrictions put in place by the race organizers make accessing the top even more challenging. There is only one village that athletes are permitted to climb to the summit by foot from. And that village is way off course from the most efficient flight path. Titlis to Eiger Distance covered: 630 km Famous for its intimidating north faces, Eiger (3970 m) is an icon of European alpinism. The good news for the athletes is there is no turnpoint to sign in at on the summit! Instead, they must prove they passed within a 1500 m radius of the virtual cylinder. Eiger to Mont Blanc Distance covered: 751 km In this leg, athletes must travel north from Switzerland into France, past Europe’s highest peak, Mont Blanc (4810 m). Like the previous leg, there is no signboard at the summit. Instead, they must traverse the northern side, keeping the mountain at their left. Mont Blanc to St. Hilaire Distance covered: 847 km One of the paragliding meccas of Europe, St. Hilaire in France offers easy take off conditions. The athletes can sail in quickly and sign the board at turnpoint 10, before launching again and setting off to cross the Alps again! Paul Guschlbauer power hikes to his next take off spot during Red Bull X-Alps 2017. © Sebastian Marko / Red Bull Content Pool St. Hilaire to Monte Viso Distance covered: 965 km Crossing from the north to the south-east, athletes head to Italy’s Monte Viso (3841 m), where they must again prove by GPS tracking that they passed through a 2250 m virtual cylinder. While not as famous as previous peaks, race organizers say turnpoint 11 might be the toughest because of the mountains and valleys athletes must navigate through to get there. Monte Viso to Cheval Blanc Distance covered: 1045 km This is a new, unexplored area to Red Bull X-Alps. By this point, the remaining athletes that haven’t dropped out will be exhausted. Cheval Blanc, a 2323 m peak in the French Alps, will be one of their last obstacles to navigate past. This time, they are required to pass on the west, either by foot or wing. Cheval Blanc to Peille Distance covered: 1136 km Here, at last, the clock stops. The ceremonial end is 2 km below on a float on the shore of Monaco. The Peille turnpoint (13) is located at a mere 709 m, a pimp squeak compared to the massive peaks the athletes have already endured. However, it’s small size is deceiving; because of the many hills preceding it, it’s all too easy to pick a bad thermal and wind up landing, and being forced to continue on by foot, losing precious time. Peille to Monaco Distance covered: 1138 km The landing float in the glistening Mediterranean Sea will be sight for the tired eyes of the courageous athletes that made it through the gauntlet. It’s time to pop the champagne! Red Bull X-Alps 2019 begins on June 16. Stay tuned for more of the action! Lead image: © Felix Woelk / Red Bull Content Pool

© Ulrich Grill / Red Bull Content Pool With the ninth edition of Red Bull X-Alps only a month away, Paul Guschlbauer is doing the hard yards to prepare. “I’m trying to get my body prepared,” the 35-year-old Austrian says. “I’m carrying my paraglider pack and doing long walks on the flat, then combining it with climbing mountains and flying. I’m always trying to keep it fun because I hate to have a schedule that is just about ‘training’. It’s not my style.” Conditioning his body for long days of walking with a heavy pack is essential to seriously compete in Red Bull X-Alps, a 1138 km hiking and paragliding race that spans the length of the European Alps. On average, athletes hike about 40 to 50 km a day, and when the weather conditions aren’t flyable, that can increase to 100 km, or even more. “Every day we have on average between 2500 and 3500 m of vertical climbing on top of that distance,” Paul says. “Your body has to be really resistant to this kind of punishment.” Paul’s long history in outdoor endurance sports gives him confidence he’s ready. Tracking his workouts with his Suunto 9 Baro also gives him confidence. “Having the right mindset for the race is very important and if you go there and don’t think you are strong enough it’s not a good feeling,” he says. “And sometimes I feel like I haven’t trained enough and then I look at the data my Suunto captured and I can see I did.” There are only 1138 Suunto 9 Baro Red Bull X-Alps Limited Edition pieces. One for every kilometer of the race! Growing up in Graz, Paul’s first adventure sport was mountain biking. He won competitions and became semi professional. But biking didn’t satisfy his longing for epic adventure. When he was 18, he got bored of mountain biking and decided to move on. He started mountaineering and paragliding, and felt he was on the right path. Then he found out about Red Bull X-Alps, and set his sights on it. Five years later, in 2011, he applied for a wildcard entry, and got it. “I came third,” he says, “surprising me and everyone else. Since then I’ve been focused on this. Now it’s going to be my fifth Red Bull X-Alps. I can hardly believe it.” Suunto is delighted to once again be a main race partner for the 2019 edition. Each of the 32 athletes from 20 nations around the world competing this year will be tracking his or her journey with a Suunto 9 Baro, helping to pace their efforts, and find their way. Paul is excited about using his watch for route finding. “I started using the Suunto app with the planning and then transferring the track to the watch so I can just go left and right, as it tells me,” Paul explains. “That’s pretty cool. It will be handy during the race.” © Sebastian Marko / Red Bull Content Pool Paul placed third again in the 2017 and 2015 editions, and ninth in the 2013 edition. Since 2009 one man has won every edition: Swiss legend Chrigel Maurer, nicknamed Chrigel the Eagle. Paul has got tantalising close to him, but the Eagle is a once in a generation talent, a kind of Kilian Jornet of the air, in the hike and fly scene. Beating him has proven impossible for everyone. But Paul isn’t giving up. Developed by Austrian pilot Hannes Arch, the first edition of Red Bull X-Alps was in 2003. The race starts in Salzburg, Austria and ends – after crossing five alpine nations – in Monaco. When the weather is permitting, the athletes fly as far and as fast as they can. When the weather is inclement, they continue on by foot. Each athlete is allowed one main supporter, who helps with route planning, cooking, health care and other things. The race has a massive following, with many alpine villages coming out to cheer the athletes as they pass through, and thousands of other who watch the race via its live tracking system online.  Stay tuned for more action from Red Bull X-Alps 2019! Lead image: © Sebastian Marko / Red Bull Content Pool

Photo by Alex Gorham on Unsplash Studies on flow states show when athletes are experiencing them the thinking part of their brain is offline. “The less you think, the better you perform,” quips Markus Arvaja, a certified sports psychology consultant and senior lecturer in coaching at Finland’s Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences. “We’ve studied athletes, the best of the best, studied their brains when they perform, and they have less brain activity in their prefrontal cortex. Which means they have automated their skills so they can purely enjoy their sport.” When he’s not teaching at university, Markus, himself an ice hockey, football and tennis player, works as a mental coach for Finland’s national women’s ice hockey team and the national youth tennis team. He’s a board member of the Finnish Society of Sports Psychology. He’s passionate about people performing at their absolute best. “Studies show peak flow states are intrinsically motivating experiences,” he says. “People become so involved in an activity that they are on automatic pilot, totally absorbed in that experience. It’s a merging of action and awareness. Thing is, you can’t force yourself to go into flow. But their are elements that help you enter into the flow space.” Flow states, peak performance, being in the zone, runner’s highs; these are all interchangeable terms describing the transcendent experiences athletes, artists, musicians and creatives report having. Maybe you’ve experienced one yourself. Time slows down, you become totally immersed in the task at hand, it feels effortless, maybe the world seems more vivid, and you have sense of mastery. They are when athletes have their best performances and, according to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who wrote a seminal book on the topic, they are a key aspect of human happiness. It’s something we can all experience, not only elite athletes and artists. Neuroscience has revealed much about what’s happening in the brain during a flow state. Brain waves change from beta, more rapid waves underlying waking consciousness, to somewhere between alpha and theta waves, where we daydream and first enter into sleep. This is when many people have their best ideas. Neurochemicals associated with pleasure and performance – endorphin, serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine and anandamide – are the raw ingredients of flow. Perhaps the most interesting fact is how different regions of the brain respond during flow; for example, studies have found the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain associated with self monitoring – and also self criticism – goes offline during flow. Instead of constantly analysing and evaluating, we do things spontaneously. “Sometimes coaches can interrupt the flow happening for athletes by giving too much information for the athletes’ minds,” Markus says. “It’s better to say only one or two things. “For flow, your mind should be free of worry and unnecessary thoughts. Stay in the present moment by quieting the mind and turning off the inner critic. Mindfulness certainly helps with this.” Stay tuned for the next article in our series on flow: the ingredients of flow.

Hill repeats are the best and safest form of speed work for endurance athletes. In my 10 years of coaching triathletes and runners, I’ve used hill repeats to train high school sprinters to run 49 seconds for the 400m dash, ITU athletes to run under 16 minutes for an off-the-bike 5K, and IRONMAN athletes to run sub-three-hour marathons. We do hills and drills all year, almost every week. As a coach of age group world and national champions, I have a firm belief that an athlete should always be between eight and 12 weeks away from an exceptional performance. Which means you should always work on speed development. If you drift too far away from speed work, you will see a plateau in performance and potentially injury. Why are hills so important? 1. They build your strength If the intensity is correct, the muscle recruitment is at its highest level, helping you increase your distance per step. Developing this muscular strength is critical for long-term health and development. Hill repeats are also the best, most specific form of strength training a runner can do. 2. They improve your speed Hills are the best form of plyometrics you can do. If you want to run faster, you have to develop an elastic, responsive stride. If you feel like you stomp the ground, this is a great sign that your stride needs improvement. The ability to use the ground’s energy to become more elastic is critical for success and prevents injury. 3. They improve your coordination Do you not feel comfortable or coordinated when you try and run fast? I’ve worked with many ITU athletes who grew up swimming but had very little running background. They benefitted greatly from hill sprints because it taught them proper running form and speed very quickly. Now that you’re ready to head into the hills, here are some parameters to keep in mind: Progress slowly When you start doing hill repeats, you want to gradually progress from a short, fast sprint to a longer one so as to give your body enough time to warm up and get accustomed to the coordination needed. Always start short. Begin with a hill sprint that takes you less than 10 seconds to complete, then gradually work up to one that takes you roughly 30 seconds. Finish your workout with hill sprints that take between 40 and 60 seconds. If you’re new to hill sprints, or you are injured, then stick to the shorter duration sprints and don’t progress until you feel ready. I recommend five to six repetitions of each length of repeat. Focus on intensity The intensity is critical. To make hill repeats effective you need to go very hard. In fact, when doing your eight to 10-second hill repeats, you should be going at maximum effort. If you don’t go hard enough, you’re wasting your time. As the hills progress in length, the intensity doesn’t change much. When you graduate to 40 to 60-second hill repeats, they become incredibly challenging. Your legs will flood with lactate and you will experience a high level of fatigue. Learn the proper frequency This depends on your physiology and injury background; not all athletes are treated the same. We do a Run Profile Test with each athlete to show us their technical flaws and their physiology. We also need to know their injury background. If an athlete is frequently injured, they will learn to love 10-second hill repeats. The Run Profile Test includes a 100m sprint, 1 mile, and 400m effort (in this order). As coaches, we watch for technical flaws in your stride, your elasticity levels, and the differences in your speed versus aerobic properties. If we’re working with a remote athlete we have their training partner video them at certain moments in each repetition. If the athlete scores well on the speed portion, we train them differently than someone who scores low. Every athlete is different. Add run drills Run drills are important and shouldn’t be avoided. However, if you think only performing run drills will make you a faster and healthy runner, you’re wrong. Drills teach you how to feel your stride at certain points and increase mobility. In a hill repeat session, we do them before entering each repetition. We perform a specific drill, for example butt kicks, for 10 meters or 10 seconds, then explode into a maximum-effort 10-second hill sprint from a standing start. The objective of the drill is to keep the athlete engaged in what they should be focusing on during the hill repeat. Some of the drills we use include slow marches, butt kicks, high knees, ankle pops, a skips and bounding. There are many common mistakes that I see runners make while doing hill repeats. The most common include: 1. Not enough rest between repeats Remember, hills are meant to be educational and not purely for conditioning. You are expected to go maximum effort or close to it. If you don’t allow enough rest, by the third repeat the intensity slips and you’ve lost the benefit. You should allow full recovery between each hill. 2. Skipping the short repeats Don’t skip the 10-second hill efforts and go straight to the 30-second efforts. When you begin training, the stress should first come from the frequency and volume set for the athlete. We start with short hill repeats to not overload the athlete too much too early. 3. Not going hard enough The goal is maximum muscle recruitment. You have to achieve maximum recruitment at 10 seconds before you can at 30 seconds. The short hill sprints are what keep you healthy, they lay the foundation for the year. Even if you have a long hill, use that long hill to do short repeats if that’s the amount of time you can go at maximum effort. 4. Poor hill gradient You never want to sacrifice your posture for an overly steep hill. On the other hand, a hill not steep enough won’t provide you with the resistance needed to execute the workout. A good rule of thumb is a hill no less than 5 percent and no greater than 10 percent. How steep you go depends on how well you can keep a good, natural running position while still being able to work at a maximum effort. Test out what these hill repeats can do for you. Resist the urge to accelerate the progression too quickly. I can almost guarantee you will feel faster and more coordinated in your upcoming races. This article by coach Steven Brandes was originally published on trainingpeaks.com. You can learn more about coach Brandes here. TrainingPeaks provides you in-depth analysis, planning tools and coaching services to help you reach your goal. Track your workouts with your Suunto watch. Afterwards analyze your heart rate, power, pace and other data with TrainingPeaks on the web or in mobile and progress towards your goals.

Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.― Sun Tzu, The Art of War Pro triathlete Cody Beals loves a good race battle. He’s been having them since his high school cross-country days. More recently, he fought it out against two athletes at the inaugural Challenge Cancun triathlon, ultimately placing second. Cody thrives on competition, and is not afraid to employ deception to defeat his rivals. The most dramatic battles, he says, are when you are neck and neck with another athlete. Knowing how to do battle is an important part of triathlon. It’s something that can be trained, and requires a certain degree of cunning. Cody shares his tactics. 6 tactics to overcome your rivals 1. Let them do the work The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.― Sun Tzu, The Art of War Cody advises to sit back and let your rival work for you. He learned this the hard way after many years of trying to be at the front of the pack, especially on the runs. He expended so much energy doing this he got his butt kicked in finishing sprints over and over again. He eventually learned it’s better to sit back, bide his time, allowing his rivals to do the work. “This offers a strong physiological advantage on the swim and the bike if you're drafting off other athletes, within race rules,” he says. “On the run, it's a small advantage physically, but more psychological. “It’s a good tactic if you find yourself neck and neck with someone else. It's the Muhammed Ali rope-a-dope thing; acting like you’re weak and sand bagging a little bit.” 2. Play up a perceived weakness or look strong Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.― Sun Tzu, The Art of War In his own words, Cody says he’s “not the prettiest runner”. This is true when he’s fresh, and even more so at back sections of Ironman courses. In certain situations, when he wants his rivals to believe he’s in worse shape than he really is, Cody accentuates his running style. “I let my head wobble back and forth, throw my arms even wider, looking worse than in reality, when in fact that's just how I run,” he says. “This can get into another athlete’s head.” Alternatively, the opposite ruse – looking stronger than you really are – is also advisable in certain situations. “This is often something you do out in back sections of the run course,” Cody says. “Most triathlons feature sections like this where you can scope out the competition. I like to smile at my rivals, maybe give them a thumbs up. Or to really get inside their head, I might offer a word of encouragement, like a ‘good job’.” 3. Remember they are struggling, too In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity― Sun-Tzu, The Art of War In the heat of a race, when he’s really suffering, Cody likes to remind himself that his rivals are, too. “I like to tell myself that they are suffering as much or more than I am,” he says. “Often you feel like you are locked in this titanic struggle all on your own. But it bears remembering that everyone else out there is also going through this. Remembering that gives me strength.” 4. Block them out When the outlook is bright, bring it before their eyes; but tell them nothing when the situation is gloomy.― Sun Tzu, The Art of War As a last resort, when things get really tough, Cody advises to turn inward. “The other thing you can do is outright ignore them, pretend other athletes on the course don’t even exist,” he says. “This is a last resort. I think the most useful strategy is to engage the competition, to engage with the pain, to be very present and mindful about what is happening. However, as a last resort, you can detach from everything happening, including the competition, and turn your focus inwards.” 5. Prepare well for battle Plan for what it is difficult while it is easy, do what is great while it is small.― Sun Tzu, The Art of War Intense competition can rattle even experienced pro athletes like Cody. That’s why he dedicates a significant amount of time to preparing for it. “In pretty much all my difficult training sessions I will dedicate some time to visualisation, specifically around other athletes,” he explains. “If I know who I’m going to be racing, they will figure into my visualisation. I will practice a key moment involving that athlete and rehearse it again and again mentally. For example, I might go over a certain pass, where I'm going to drop them, or us locked in a finishing sprint. It’s extremely repetitive so when it comes to the actual moment in the race, it’s almost like a dream because I’ve practiced it so many time before.” 6. Make an alliance If you do not seek out allies and helpers, you will be isolated and weak.― Sun Tzu, The Art of War Once in a while, during a race that isn’t going well, and only in the bike stage, Cody says making an alliance with another athlete can sometimes be helpful. “It’s always with an athlete who I think I can outrun, but who rides similarly to me,” he says. “If I think I can leverage that, and gain something by being cooperative on the bike by legally working together with the 12 m spacing, that’s worthwhile. It rarely works out in practice, but sometimes you can find yourself with one or two other athletes and it pays to work together.”