Go hard and go home

Previously indoor training was something you reluctantly skulked off and did if the weather really was too dreadful for proper riding, but even before the pandemic it was starting to emerge from the gloom of a cobwebby garage to take its rightful place in a bespoke and brightly lit ‘pain cave’ bedecked with expensive, high-tech equipment.

The lockdown gave indoor training the powerup it was waiting for and with the first UCI Cycling Esports World Championships held at the end of 2020 and the next one scheduled for February 2022, it’s now as much a part of cycling as Paris-Roubaix (but much warmer) - and crucially it’s accessible to everyone.

We’ve peered through the sweat-infused steam into three very different indoor set-ups.

THE CHAMPION’S CHAMBER

Ashleigh Moolman Pasio

Ashleigh Moolman Pasio lives in a 17th century farmhouse 25km outside Girona. It’s set in peaceful, idyllic countryside and the Catalonian weather is warm and sunny – so it might seem perverse that she is the world’s best at indoor cycling.

However, the room where the UCI Cycling Esports world champion – who is also a road pro for Team SD Worx