Why is everyone talking about Zone 2 training? Tadej Pogačar, or rather his coach, is responsible - here’s why

The cacophony of praise for Zone 2 training of late left Chris Sidwells scratching his head. So he decided to find out what all the fuss was about

Male cyclist riding at Zone 2 on an outdoor bike ride
(Image credit: Future)

Why is everyone banging on about Zone 2 training? That’s the question I’ve found myself asking repeatedly during the last year. It’s not as though the benefits of training at a low to moderate intensity are a new discovery. Endurance cyclists have been doing their long rides mostly at Zone 2 for years, so why all the attention now? 

The reason, so far as I can tell, is Tadej Pogačar, or rather his coach, Iñigo San Millán. In several podcasts in the last year, notably a lengthy and detailed interview with US longevity specialist Dr Peter Attia in his ‘Drive’ podcast, the Basque-born coach claimed that it was this type of training that lay behind Pogačar’s phenomenal success. 

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