Chann McRae Coaching, Inc. (CMCI) offers premier coaching services for cycling and multisport athletes. We take your training and racing seriously and offer packages suited to every individual whether they are a beginner, an age-group contender, or a top level professional.
Chann McRae is a premier professional cyclist, multisport athlete, coach, and currently a director with SlipStream-Chipolte Professional Cycling Team. CMCI offers a multi-talented staff with decades of racing as professionals at the top level of sport in the world. They bring the latest training methodologies and the latest technologies in a personalized service tailored to your schedule and goals.
Wednesday 28 May 2008 Feeding the Future: Chann McRae Feeding The Future: Chann McRae Friday, March 28, 2008 1:40:43 AM PT
by Gordan Cameron
|
| | PEZ spoke with ex-pro racer Chann McRae about his role as director of the VMG/Felt under-23s, part of the Slipstream stable. We talked development, training, and how one day the young riders might get to enjoy gelati at the Giro - just like McRae did in his day. |
One of the big American names in Europe in the late 1990s, Chann McRae retired from racing at the end of 2003 after several successful seasons at the highest level, including stints with Mapei-Quick Step and US Postal. But he stayed close to the sport in a coaching capacity and 2007 found him in the role of director sportif for the VMG under-23 racing team. This year, VMG merged with Slipstream's juniors to form the VMG/Felt U23 Team and McRae continued in the director's role - and also with the responsibility of looking after the US side of Slipstream itself.
PEZ spoke to McRae recently, and wanted to know more about how the team came about and functions, who to watch alongside junior world time trial champion Taylor Phinney and three-time national US junior road champ Daniel Summerhill, and his role in guiding young riders to the next level.
McRae raced extensively in Europe, in a bunch of races big and small, with top twenty finishes in the Giro and Vuelta, two top ten placings at the World Champs, and finally victory at the US PRO championship. So it seemed like a good opportunity to hear a couple of old racing stories as well.
|
PEZ: What's the essential function of VMG/Felt?
McRae: It's the feeder team into the Slipstream pro team. That's our goal, and it also gives a lot of education for the younger guys, having training camps with the pro team and so on. As well, we sent a mixed team to race in the Bahamas at the start of the year - under 23 and pro riders.
The young guys got a lot out of that because they have riders like Christian Vande Velde teaching them, 'eat this, eat that', 'train a little bit more'; they're role models to the younger guys.
PEZ: It's obviously a good system. Are there more options like this today for young riders coming up than when you were trying to move into the pro ranks?
McRae: There's far more options. This is a direct system. When they're ready, they'll get a pro contract. But, it's not enough just to do well in the US - they have to perform in Europe, against the best Europeans at a world level. Then we'll see how they're going and if they're ready to go pro.
PEZ: So one thing still hasn't changed: the riders still have to perform just like they've always had to?
McRae: Yeah, you still have to fight. But if you fight well, you will get rewarded. Back in my day, you would fight, fight, fight, but were still working the phone trying to get into, say, eight different pro teams.
PEZ: So now, if you ride well, you will get noticed?
McRae: We're watching them big time!
PEZ: You've got a lot of experience in the pro peloton from your riding days. Is it satisfying to be able to share that experience with the younger riders?
McRae: My favourite part of working with the under-23s is the teaching. I'm the director, but I'm also a teacher. If I can tell them what people didn't tell me when I was younger, we can speed up the process. Plus there's the methodology that I learned in my career that I can pass down.
PEZ: Are there any particular aspects that you like to focus on?
McRae: We've learned a lot with some of the results we've seen this year already with the team. It's a long season, but during the winter they're not doing high volume and are working in the gym. They start the new year stronger, and come into the training camp not at 100% but a little lower, but can then start building up.
Some guys don't do enough strength work or core work over the winter. They start the season fast, but then it doesn't work out for them. We see a lot of that.
PEZ: So smarter training is the key?
McRae: Yes. Some riders end the season too early, in September, which I think is a mistake. There's time to race in September, such as racing in the Vuelta, then time to work on weight training and not get back on the bike too early.
In my day we used to race a lot, all through the season, and if you're going well then that's okay. There's no reason, even today, not to do 70 days of racing in a season.
|
PEZ: Cycling is going through a tough phase at the moment, at least in the mainstream media - although the crowds at races seem to be as supportive as ever. Is there a morale issues amongst the young riders; do they feel that maybe cycling is not a sport with a good future?
McRae: I can only speak for Slipstream, about what we're doing, and our anti-doping programme, for example. Our young riders are super motivated and they haven't seen many of those problems out there. They know about it, but they'll never have to experience anything like that. I don't think they ever second guess themselves as to the sport they picked.
PEZ: And what about the structure that Jonathan [Vaughters] has put together for Slipstream?
McRae: That's one of the main reasons I signed on, because of the whole movement JV is putting forward. It's new and fresh and it's motivating for me, too. Every day you wake up and you enjoy what you're doing.
PEZ: Did Jonathan initially approach you when you were at VMG - how did the whole merger come about?
McRae: We had some conversations back in August. VMG was a minor sponsor of Slipstream anyway, and now it's a much larger sponsor. We talked about a feeder team, and going forward thought it was the thing to do to develop some of the best under 23s in the country.
|
PEZ: You've got Taylor Phinney and Daniel Summerhill in the team, who are well known. Who else should we be looking out for?
McRae: They're all good; they're all going to shine. Certain names pop up in the media more than others. All of them will get their opportunity. We had a big talent pool, and had to narrow it down to just eight riders. They could all be good pros.
PEZ: So it really is 'watch this space'; we should be seeing these guys at the pro level in a few years?
McRae: Yes, definitely.
PEZ: I wanted to talk a little about your own racing career. An interview once recorded your enthusiasm for the Spanish mountain races, but it seems like most of your success came in the multi-day tours elsewhere. What were some of your favourite races?
McRae: My all-time favourites were the Giro and the World Championships, which I focused on, and the Vuelta. My body just flipped in May, and it flipped in September, so I did well in races like the Giro, the Vuelta, and the Worlds.
PEZ: The Giro and the World Championships are obviously two completely different races. How did you prepare for the different racing requirements?
McRae: For the Giro you didn't really prepare for it. We started in March at our training camp, then we'd go from there to the small five-day Spanish races, then the Giro del Trentino and onto the Tour of Romandie - it was pretty simple. You got better in each stage race. By the time you got to the Giro you had twenty or thirty races in your legs - you were going pretty well.
After that there'd be time off, but then there would be other races to build up to the Vuelta. With the Worlds being so late, you'd have to keep up with your riding, doing your long rides. You can't stop the Vuelta then take a week off the bike. You have to still do a few five-hour rides between the Vuelta and the Worlds. It's easy to carry form over if you're mentally focused, not drifting.
|
PEZ: Do you have a theory why the Giro is such a great race, and any particular memories from racing in it?
McRae: Everywhere you go in the Giro is great. There's so much culture. The hotels and restaurants are always almost 5-star. You can live it up and just enjoy every day of it.
There are definitely hard, cold, dark days but you remember the good moments, like riding around with the Italians and everyone's chattering and making jokes. You're going at 28 km/h then you come to some village and there's a stop. In '99 we stopped and Marco Pantani was next to me eating a gelato in the peloton, and I'm thinking 'this is kind of cool'. Then, boom, everyone takes off and you're at 55 km/h, single file into the first climb. That's the Giro!
PEZ would like to thank Chann for taking the time to talk with us and we will certainly be watching out for the riders on VMG/Felt, now and in the future. |
|
Posted by kkupecz on Wednesday May 28 2008 - 19:17:50
|
  
|
Monday 21 April 2008 Tour of Georgia Stage 1 So we planned to have Tyler farrar collect some intermediate time bonuses in stage one, and then go for the stage as well. It worked out textbook, for the first 2 sprints with the team helping Tyler get 2nd and 1st respectively in the sprints. He was tied for race leader on the road with Henderson from High Road. For the last 5km to the finish, we committed 6 riders to help Tyler. We were lined out perfect 4km to go, then at 3km to go the radio comes in and tells me Tyler has punctured. That was it, out of an opportunity for Stage 1 win. Tomorrow is another day, and another chance.
Chann McRae
Slipstream Sports
U.S. Director Sportif
www.slipstreamsports.com
www.cmcoaching.com
|
|
Posted by kkupecz on Monday April 21 2008 - 11:17:31
|
|
Saturday 19 April 2008 Slipstream's plan Slipstream's planIn addition to Danielson and Vande Velde, Slipstream brings Americans David Zabriskie, Tyler Farrar, Danny Pate, Timmy Duggan, Lucas Euser and Australian Trent Lowe. Director Chann McRae will be directing the Argyle Armada in Georgia.“We will put our climbers into the moves that go on the flatter stages early on. For the sprints, we will work to set Tyler up for a stage win,” said McRae. “We’re also going to focus efforts on the team time trial.” Chann McRaeSlipstream Sports U.S. Director Sportif www.slipstreamsports.comwww.cmcoaching.com
|
|
Posted by kkupecz on Saturday April 19 2008 - 16:21:18
|
|
Friday 18 April 2008 Karl Kupecz receives his Cat 1 upgrade Velossimo team director Karl Kupecz recently received his Category 1 upgrade for the road. Karl is the original founder Velossimo Racing and currently resides in Austin, TX. Velossimo has grown to almost 60 members over the past couple of years and races for the Susan G. Komen foundation and breast cancer funding and awareness. Velosssimo's premeir sponsor is Jack and Adams Bicycles.
Karl was happy about receiving his upgrade and said, "there are so many strong guys here in Texas, I didn't know if I really had a shot of getting results and points. I've been workly closely with Chann McRae Coaching the past 18 months and have really come a long way. Chann is the current team director for Slipstream Pro Cycling team and has the latest and best training that the pro riders are doing. Plus Chann has been around racing for a long time and his experience is invaluable. Also having experienced and strong teammates really helps a lot. I'm really proud of what we've built on Velossimo!"
|
|
Posted by kkupecz on Friday April 18 2008 - 17:33:15
|
|
Tuesday 15 April 2008 Loren Dodson wins Ft. Davis Road Race CMCI athlete Loren Dodson recently won Ft. Davis, TX Road Race. The event is a 3 event stage race that includes a Time Trial, Hill Climb, and then the final 74 mile road race through scenic and hilly Ft. Davis, TX. Loren commented that "I felt like I had great legs throughout the race and knew that I was going to finish strong."
Loren works with coach Andrew Willis and definitely had the legs to power away from the field in the Pro 1-2 race Sunday. Willis has been working with Loren the past few month on mental as well as physical preparation and race tactics.
Comments are turned off for this item
|
|
Posted by kkupecz on Tuesday April 15 2008 - 21:56:30
|
|
Juli Fiocca wins Ironman Congratulations Juli Fiocca!
CMCI athlete Juli Fiocca recently competed in the Ironman Arizona this past weekend and won her age-group in a time of 10hrs 42min. She lead the entire women's amateur field off the bike. Her 5h 17min bike split was good enough to rank 5th overall, including the pros! CMCI is already planning for her Hawaii Ironman World Championship after a bit of recovery and some short course racing over the coming weeks.
Nice job Juli!
Comments are turned off for this item
|
|
Posted by e107 on Tuesday April 15 2008 - 20:15:56
|
|
Sample race feedback and power analysis from Chann to an athlete From Chann:
4/5/08 power - KJ = 2861 high but not overly depleting. Explains the ability to enter the 2nd day into break away and stay away. 3700-4000 kj would have limited you to be able to do this, but not prevented you if the head is fresh. The mind can overcome the physical fatigue if it is sharp and be able to hoax the body into back to back breakway days even when it uses 4k kj on the first day. Just remember this for future weekends that may have back to back 90-100 mile days.Sub LT power was very, very good for the 20 min. @ 314 watts The 10min. Z4 was right on or slightly above LT @ 347 watts the anaerobic power was the most impressive at 1 min of 492 watts.
You must have been forcing some suffering on the others in that attack or bridge.
Norm power = 301 which is high, and shows very good depth, overall durability, and fitness to maintain for 3hrs.
4/6/08 power - KJ = 3772 high and depleting. Explains the need for 3 recovery days. Even better norm power at 294 watts, because the race was longer. The fitness is really solid. You won't fall apart in any races.
Comment- plotting tomorrow's opening work out- go ahead and only do 10 min. of Z3 and 5 min. Z4. It is just enough to maintain freshness, and keep you 100% opened. Same TT warm up as Fayetteville.
Comments are turned off for this item
|
Posted by kkupecz on Tuesday April 15 2008 - 20:15:01
|
|
|
|
Comments are turned off for this item
