Who is Daniel Fontana

"Daniel Fontana is an Argentinian professional triathlete naturalized Italian who since 2005 defends the Italian colors. He has qualified for the Olympics three times, has the best Italian time for the Ironman distance and is the only athlete today to have won the long distance world triathlon circuit twice. He has cycled many kilometers during his career and still cycles many daily. We asked Daniel to try our Bike Personal Coach and give us his feedback. 

The privilege of a personal coach in cycling

"I have practiced sports at a professional level, in particular triathlon, for many years and continue to do so also after forty. I started triathlon in Patagonia, where I was born. In the early nineties it wasn’t so easy in my country to find a trainer who was able to transmit to a young boy the fundamental importance of following a training program set up according to scientific criteria and not just train randomly or as the mood of the moment dictates. I learnt early on how important following a training program could be.

Around fourteen, I set my first competitive objective, at that time in swimming, and my trainer had me follow a very precise training regime. Three times a week I would get up at four in the morning, get on my bike and at 4:30 would be in the pool for two hours before going to school. After doing my homework, I would go back to the pool in the afternoon for the second training session.

After more than twenty race seasons, three Olympic qualifications and having traveled around the world to race, I can tell you with certainty that without method you can’t even win your local church’s race. I always tell this to the amateur athletes that I meet: it only takes a certain awareness to get the best from oneself, that is, there are some factors, such as talent, that can’t be influenced, but there are others, such as the right method, the best guides, patience and perseverance that can turn a 'normal' athlete into a winning athlete.

Personally, during my career, I have always put my trust into trainers who have many years of experience and who already had a chance to make mistakes, to experiment and as such to perfect their methods and who had the chance to develop training theories based on the scientific methodology of developing a hypothesis and verify it in the field to see if their theory can be confirmed. And so, when I learnt about the process behind the formulation of Bike Personal Coach’s training plan, I immediately understood that this was a right road to choose.

It’s the result of the experience of those who center their work and success around professionalism and the study of the training methods. What until now has been the privilege of a few, to have a personal trainer to put together a tailor-made program, is now available thanks to Bikevo to everyone. Each athlete is given the opportunity to fully develop their potential by optimizing performance.

This is only possible by starting from a careful analysis of the physiological-metabolic characteristics of each individual and putting together an athletic profile. Not all of us are given genes to be climbers on the bike, just as not all of us have the physiological characteristics suitable for being formidable endurance riders. The secret lies in discovering our talents and our propensities and then structuring a training plan that emphasizes these and uses them to lead us toward excellence.

This is the principle on which the work of a trainer is hinged and also that of Bike Personal Coach, a good premise to do well ".