Aldag takes on new role at Omega Pharma-QuickStep
Rolf Aldag chats at the start.
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Former HTC manager becomes sports and development manager
Next year won’t be the first that Rolf Aldag has worked inside the Omega Pharma-QuickStep team. As technical advisor throughout 2012, Aldag was, among other things, a key figure in parts of Tom Boonen’s build-up to the Classics this spring. It’s a sign of how well that relationship worked that both sides have come back for more.
From an outsider’s point of view, one of the most interesting angles Aldag mentions when discussing his job are the ‘mind games’ that form part of the never-ending technological battles between the different top cycling teams. For example, the cobbled Classics are one of the most important for Omega Pharma and are often seen as the most demanding for bike technology but Aldag says “it’s not just about the equipment, but the psychology behind it, too.”
“If you looked at what we tried to do with Boonen last winter, it’s one thing to put a bike in front of him and say ‘this is your Roubaix bike’. What we have done is include him in the research program. So we had one day with Specialized and SRAM where we tested on the cobbles, on real data with SRMs, going up and down it for about five hours.”
“So Tom was going up and down, changing the wheels, changing the pressure, re-fixing the bike, so you could see what was needed for him to go at 45 kilometres an hour. And he understands that, he understands what it needs.”
Omega Pharma–QuickStep also hired the velodrome in Valencia, Spain for more work with Boonen in what Aldag calls “a really easy comparison. First he used the same wheel he used in Paris-Roubaix, aluminium rims and 32 spokes and we had him riding at 50kph there on the indoor track, measuring the wattage we need. Then you put him on the best possible new setup and he can see the difference.”
“Then you put him back on the old set up, he hardly makes 50kph and you’ve won him psychologically, he sees the benefits and the advantages that others might not have.”
“When I watched him on TV in Paris-Roubaix, the position of his arms for example on the handlebars, it was very
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