Coffee Talk with Julien Bernard

In this week’s coffee chat, Segafredo Zanetti caught up with one of Trek-Segafredo’s super domestique.

What is your morning ritual?

 

Typically I wake up around 8 am, have a quick breakfast, and feed my cat. Iโ€™m not the kind of person who likes to exercise before breakfast; I need to get some fuel to activate my body before I start training. I like to alternate what I eat in the morning, but one thing that is always constant is my coffee!

 

How do you like your coffee?

 

I like to have a big cup of strong โ€œAmericanoโ€ style coffee. I have a coffee grinder and a coffee machine at home, and I really like to take 10 minutes or so just to enjoy drinking my cup of coffee. Itโ€™s the perfect way to start the day.

 

How many coffees do you have before a race?   

 

 Never more than two coffees. One at breakfast and then perhaps another just before the race. I donโ€™t like to start racing with too much caffeine in my body because I donโ€™t want my heart rate to be too elevated before the start, and this also ensures the caffeine gels if I take them during the race, will be effective. 

 

What is for you a โ€œcoffee rideโ€? 

 

At home there are not many months of the year when I have the luxury of a typical coffee ride because in the off-season, itโ€™s usually too cold to stop somewhere mid-ride. However, me and my friends have found a way around this: they ride to my home, we have a coffee together, and then we go out for a one-hour ride. Itโ€™s a coffee ride, no?

Who is your favorite companion for a coffee ride? 

My friends from my region, they are amateur cyclists. I really like to spend time with them whenever Iโ€™m at home.

How has your daily life changed in the time of this pandemic?

I was in a country-wide lockdown for eight weeks, and it was definitely hard mentally. The weather was amazing at my home, but I wasnโ€™t allowed to go outside to train on the road, which was a bit frustrating.

Personally, having my daily routine is something that helped me through the lockdown. I tried to wake up every day at the same hour and start my training at 10 am, usually a one hour and 30-minute indoor session before lunch. Then I would have a short nap and would typically do another training session in the afternoon. Two of three times per week, I would also do a 30-minute gym session. I also had some virtual rides with my teammates, which was really good to keep that team spirit alive.

It really helped when the UCI released the dates for when weโ€™ll return to racing. We have to be patient and philosophical about the situation: Weโ€™re all in this together, and we have to be strong so we can overcome it as fast as possible

 In a regular race season, how do you invest your free time at home?

 When Iโ€™m home between races, I like to see and spend time with my friends and often go for bike rides with them. In the evening, I usually play some video games or watch Netflix.

Source

Mathew Mitchell
Mathew Mitchellhttp://procyclinguk.com
My name is Mathew Mitchell, 30-something from Staffordshire, UK. Over the last few years, I've got more and more into cycling, from the first innocent Sportive events to Audaxes, Go-Races, British Cycling racing, Time Trials and now Cyclocross.

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