You are quite incorrect about how they incorporate reverse periodization. They still maintain a very high early season base volume, its the duration of the efforts done in that period that increases, but they are still somewhat long durations for most riders (from what I've heard usually 10-30min intervals done at or above threshold with some spikes thrown in).
That is not what I would imagine the problem would be for newer/developing riders, but rather the approach of using the 1 week stage races within a training block and book-ending them with massive volume of 25-30hrs/week on either side. Maybe a seasoned guy can handle that, but I would imagine that it would be extremely taxing and kill speed for some of the more snappy types. EBH seems to have completely lost any snap that he once had. All the stresses of racing and traveling probably magnify the training stress of a block.
If you read interviews with Wiggo it seems that the dieting was much more stressful than the training as he had to maintain a weight that was almost 15lbs lighter than normal plus all the media hype/stress and it just got to be annoying for a goal that he was unlikely to repeat. JTL I just don't think was ready for the big time and sure maybe the volume sapped him, or maybe his bio passport results indicate something else was a bit more at play
Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez wrote:Dombrowsky is coming back from knee injury, not the best preparation for ATOC. His best ride at pro levels was done under Trek/Bontrager development team.
Team Sky has peculiar training methods. Tim Kerrison practice reversed periodization.
The classic approach to training is to work endurance first and then do more specific/interval/intensity training to peak for a determined period of time and generally the rider would get on top form for a month or 6 weeks.
Reverse periodization means you always do specific/interval training all the season, but you start with short periods of intensity in winter and progressively lengthen the intensity work.
This kind of training is much more stressful/demanding for the body and mind. If, at one point you get physically or mentally tired, it can become a nightmare because the body doesn't answer as it should under effort.
When it's working you can have a very long period of good form, such as Wiggins in 2012 or Porte & Froome in 2013 when they basically won every stage race they would start.
In 2013 Wiggo couldn't mentally endure this kind of training, too much demanding. It is not surprising to see him performing in 2014 with a fresh mind/approach to the races. The Roubaix thing was the best thing for him. If you've had a look at Giro del Trentino, you might have seen him performing very well in the mountains despite having raced the classics just 10 days before and some kilos of overweight. (compared to his Grand Tour weight)
This kind of training method also naturally select the strong "pedigrees"/engines such as Ian Stannard, Geraint Thomas or Wiggins. Porte is having trouble this year but this training method did well during two seasons, but kill the weaker bodies or weaker minds (Tiernan-Locke for example who just couldn't adapt to the method)