Mitchelton Scott sport director Matt White said that when racing resumes in mid-June, the majority of riders will have trained enough on the road to compete on a level playing field.

In an interview published by Mitchelton Scott, White revealed that "85-90 percent" of the team's riders are currently under full lockdown, unable to leave their homes except to access essential services, and when racing resumes later this summer, outside He noted concerns that when the race resumes later this summer, riders who can train outside will have an advantage. We're hoping to get everybody back on the road to some degree by mid- to late-April," White said. So if the best-case scenario is June, which is where we start, everyone will be racing for a month to six weeks. I think by the time we get back to competing, it will be a pretty level playing field."

Despite this, White acknowledged that at the moment, riders who can train on the road are getting fitter than those who stick to their home trainers. He said, "The riders who can go on the road right now can do four- to five-hour rides. Riders who are at home, on their home trainers, can do one hour to 90 minutes at most. The intensity will be a little higher, but they just won't be able to do the normal amount of training."

White said Mitchelton Scott riders do a variety of training at home, depending on their goals and current fitness level. He said, "Obviously, the Classic athletes are approaching the peak of their season. Some of the Classics riders are training to replicate the periodization of the Classics season, which will end in 10 days to two weeks. Then, after Paris-Roubaix (originally April 12), they "rest" as usual.

"Other riders who were preparing for the Giro d'Italia, for example, have changed their goals," White said. 'They're not used to doing nothing. They're not used to doing nothing, so a lot of them are just training, staying mentally active, participating in Zwift's "BikeExchange - Where the World Rides Series" sessions with their teams, and going online to I'm interacting with them."

The nutritional requirements for riders have also changed. Riders now have to be very strict about what they take in because "it's not the same energy consumption as usual. Some riders don't care about their weight, and those riders may gain a little weight."

"The last thing you want is to spend a month at home and come home 3 kg heavier. 'Because not only do they have to increase their training load, but they have to lose weight as well. That's something players deal with in the off-season, not during the season.

White also addressed the current status of the 2020 Tour de France, which race organizer ASO announced it would reveal in April. White said he believes the worst of the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic will pass by July, but questioned whether conditions are such that the race will be safe. He asked, "But are things calm enough to safely support the thousands of people coming from different parts of Europe and the world for the Tour de France?

"We are not talking about four or five venues. It will involve 2,000 people, including teams, media, and logistics, and will move through 20 hotels in 25 days. Safety must be a top priority."

White said that if ASO wants to keep the current Tour schedule (June 27-July 19), athletes must return to road training by May. If the riders don't get back on the road by May, we can't have the Tournament in June," he said. If the athletes don't get back on the road by May, we can't have a competition in June," he said. The Tour de France must not be the first race. 'The Tour de France must not be the first race.

"It is important that in the next four to five weeks the viral outbreak in Europe should drop to a very low level. 'At the moment, that's not the case and I think it would be quite difficult to hold the Tour de France starting at the end of June on the current schedule.'

White suggested that with the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics until 2021, ASO has the opportunity to move the race further into July or even August.

"That may be the most realistic option to hold the Tour de France in full, and I am sure ASO would like that. And if the race were to be held, he said, it would have the best lineup in history. "The Giro has never been held before the Tour de France, and there hasn't been a race in the spring for a couple of months, so no one would "sit out" to wait for the Vuelta a España," he reasoned. "In a normal season, they would, because they've already raced the Giro, and if they're young, they can wait for the Vuelta because they've raced so many races in the spring. [This is the case when the Tour de Suisse and the Criterium du Dauphiné are held in advance.

"It will be strange, but it will be a very competitive race."