“Mamba Mentality might work in basketball, but not in cycling” — Tudor’s runner on how important balance is for cyclists

Alberto Dainese left Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL to join the Tudor Pro Cycling Team in the 2024 cycling season. The Italian feels more at home with the team now that the first season was up and down, and he hopes to make a big jump in 2025. With the arrival of stars like Julian Alaphilippe and Marc Hirschi, he will have more competition within his own team. However, they should get along well because he is a sprinter and they are more into hilly classics.

“I finished the season with yet another crash,” he says in a sarcastic interview with Bici.pro. “I was out for a month each time, so I got away with it both times.” At the end of the season, I was in Hamburg. After a month of rehab, I slowly started to work out again. I also switched trainers, so the way I do things is a little different. We’ll see how things go.”

The coach in question is more interested in materials and engineering, so he quit working with some riding groups. “While that was going on, Tim Merlier’s old coach Erwin Borgonjon joined Tudor Pro Cycling. I’m glad to have him as a reference.” “I think he knows something because he coached the world’s best sprinter, who was as good as Milan.”

Changes to the training

“Let’s say I work fewer hours, so the work I do to get ready for the sprint is more specific and a little different.” I also run a lot, so the hours I spend on the bike are less because I work out in other ways, like going to the gym and running. I feel pretty good. Not putting in too many hours a week makes me feel more refreshed than when I used the “Mamba Mentality,” which was the training philosophy of the late basketball star Kobe Bryant to always do more than what was necessary in training.

“Maybe that works in basketball, but not in cycling, because I was always coming back from training exhausted,” he says.

2025

“We’ve added new players with experience, like Haller.” There’s also Hirschi and Alaphilippe, but I think Haller will be the most important for the sprints. I’m not going to hide the fact that this year wasn’t what I had hoped for; I was always chasing. It wasn’t because of the team, though; I had to get in shape and get through some tough times.