When we push open the door to his room, what strikes us first is neither the decor nor the equipment. It is movementNothing spectacular, no gratuitous show of force. Just precise gesturesControlled, almost sober. One athlete finishes a series of pull-ups, another performs weightlifting movements, a third focuses on a mobility exercise that, let's face it, would make more than one amateur cyclist, used to straight lines and stationary bikes, sigh. At the center of this ecosystem, there is him: Aurélien Broussal-DervalWe came to meet him. to talk about cyclingPhysical preparation, performance. We leave with a lasting impression: we didn't just discuss sessions, sets, and planning. We talked about what it really means. to advance a body. At 3bikesWe had already read his books, seen his videos, and heard his name associated with Olympic champions. But there's a difference between knowing someone's list of achievements... and spending two hours in their world.
By Jeff Tatard – Photos: DR
"Always return to the movement"
When asked how he would introduce himself today to someone who doesn't know him, He doesn't talk about ego or status. : “I am a physical trainer and coach, passionate about everything that helps athletes, amateur or professional, move better, train better, and perform better. I have been teaching for over twenty years, I have written 11 books on sports science (including 3 international bestsellers), and I have coached 10 Olympic champions. Today, I dedicate myself to my own coaching school to train or upgrade colleagues and future colleagues.”
The scene is set. But what gives coherence to this journey is a recurring theme that it repeats like a mantra "Always come back to movement. Whether it's strength, prevention, or performance, everything starts with the quality of the movement."
It's not just an effective phrase. In his mouth, it's a method, almost an ethic.
We sense that for him, movement is not the “logical continuation” of training. It is the starting pointEverything else – planning, cycles, load, recovery – is grafted onto this simple idea: a body that moves well is a body that progresses better, for longer, with less damage.
Et Behind the coach, you can just make out the teacher.. "We are only a reference if we manage to make things useful to others. What is well conceived is clearly expressed. Therefore: 1. Practice towards expertise. 2. Justify and structure this practice with science. 3. Compile everything into a presentation that everyone can understand."
At 3bikesWe know how often the discourse on the “science of training” is brandished as a banner to justify anything and everything.Here, we get the opposite impression: science as the backbone, but never as an argument from authority.
A mechanic of the body, but without a chapel
When the conversation turns to what distinguishes him in his vision of physical preparation, the answer is clear: “I have a very mechanistic vision, in the best sense of the word: understanding how the body produces, absorbs, or transmits force. No dogma, no fads. I'm not here to represent a franchise, a school, or a movement, but to deliver performance. Just well-executed movement, individualization, and an obsession with sustainable AND OBJECTIVE progress. What you can measure, you can improve.”
What strikes us, at 3bikesIt's this rare blend…
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Many “modern” discussions about training get lost in concepts, Anglicisms, and buzzwords. Aurélien, however, brings everything back to the mechanics of reality: how a body absorbs, produces, and releases force. How a movement is built, corrected, and repeated without deteriorating.
He is not seeking to be the standard-bearer of a methodHe seeks to produce measurable, reproducible results and to make them transmissible.
And above all, he acknowledges something that many coaches don't dare to say out loud: “Nobody wants to give away their recipes. Officially? ‘Learn to hunt, and you’ll never go hungry again.’ But that’s because they’re afraid to share recipes, afraid of being criticized. There’s nothing stopping you from being a hunter, a cook, and still going to a restaurant. I give everything away: the recipe, but also the secrets of the trade. I think that’s what makes the difference.”
From our perspective, we see it as a form of courage: agree to donate things that will be usable tomorrow by any coach or athlete, therefore open to criticism, probably copyable… but accepted.
A journey made of layers: tatami mats, bars, sliding and laboratory
To understand where this philosophy comes from, we must go back to his own sporting careerHe makes no secret of it: his approach was not built solely on books.
“I grew up practicing a wide variety of sports: combat sports, which taught me coordination and a sense of timing; weightlifting and bodybuilding, which structured my understanding of strength and movement; sliding sports, which develop balance and body awareness in space; swimming, which demands impeccable technique; and running, which teaches endurance and effort management.”
This mixture gives a coach who doesn't think in terms of "discipline"But in principle. A pedaling motion, a rowing pull, a judo throw, or a sprint push are not, for him, separate universes. They are configurations of forces, levers, and constraints.
He doesn't hide his influences either.They are numerous, deliberate, sometimes highly technical, sometimes cultural:
- mentors like Christian Thibaudeau or Olivier Bolliet,
- researchers such as Jean-Benoît Morin or Christophe Hausswirth,
- structures such as NSCA, Exos, FMS,
- and, more surprisingly for many cyclists, the Brazilian influence of jiu-jitsu and its natural ginastica, ancestor of many current trends (Animal Flow, GFM, etc.), distant heirs of Hébertism.
One senses that his philosophy was not built on a break, but on successive layersEach encounter, each institution, each movement has added a piece to the puzzle. It is not a closed system; it is an architecture in constant expansion.
The “coach of coaches”: when pedagogy becomes a high-level sport
In the middle, He is often presented as a “coach of coaches”It might sound like a slogan. In reality, it's an observation.
“I’m often described as a ‘coach of coaches’ because I’ve spent a large part of my career not only coaching athletes, but especially training those who coach them.”
He led structured training programs at the Weightlifting and Bodybuilding Federation, helped establish teaching standards, and participated in professionalizing the role of the strength and conditioning coach. Today, he runs his own training organization, with 14 schools in France and certification programs for coaches.
When he talks about it, it's not to tick a box on a resume. It's because This profoundly influences his approach to coaching. each session, each method, each protocol must be transmittable.
In this logic, his greatest pride is not where one would expect it…
Yes, he has accompanied some notable athletes: Gemma Gibbons, Kilian Le Blouch, Ben Quilter, Norman Nato… behind these names, we find stories of resilience, of overcoming, of pushing limits despite injuries, doubts, and sometimes unfavorable structures.
But when asked what he is most proud of, The answer goes far beyond the realm of the podiums. : “I am probably the proudest of the stories of recon"These athletes—Russian, French, British—whom I accompanied throughout their careers and to whom I, in a way, passed on the burning passion. Today, they are in turn coaches, physical trainers, instructors. Seeing them continue this passion, perpetuating a culture of movement and high standards, is for me the greatest achievement."
At 3bikesThis phrase stays with us for a long time. She says something essential: For him, performance is not the end goal. It is a culture that is passed on, that is extended from one athlete to another, from one coach to another.
This also explains why coaches, and the cyclists who come to him, often talk about this famous “sacred fire”.
"What the athletes and coaches feel most of all is the sacred fire. [...] Performance is an act of faith. My role is to ignite that flame, to nurture it, and to remind everyone that behind every protocol, every session, every testThere is an intention: to move forward, to build, to surpass oneself.
Cycling: an advanced sport… but only halfway there
We hadn't come here just to talk about principles. At 3bikesOne question obsesses us: why does amateur cycling, for the most part, remain so far off the mark when it comes to physical preparation?
On this point, Aurélien doesn't beat around the bush…
First, He knows about cycling. He speaks about it with respect, but also with lucidity: "What immediately strikes you about cycling is that everything revolves around an empire of metabolism. Performance is primarily physiological: VO2max, FTP, pedaling economy, ability to sustain high intensities for a long time... The engine takes precedence over everything else."
He the reconis born: from a metabolic point of view, cycling is a laboratory of excellenceFew sports have pushed the quantification of effort, the understanding of energy systems, and the modeling of loads to such an extreme degree.
More This “ubiquitous engine” comes at a price.
“Cycling is extraordinarily advanced metabolically, but it still has much to gain in terms of movement, strength, and the intelligent management of mechanical stress. There is virtually no culture of strength training, even though it could be a game-changer in terms of power, posture, and joint longevity.”
In his eyes, one senses thatThis is not an external judgment.He sees the cyclist as an athlete. partially developed : very sharp on some parameters, very vulnerable on others.
The blind spots are clear…
- a near absence of a culture of strength,
- Little work has been done on power boosts.
- outdated recovery and load management methods
- a tradition that values volume at the expense of quality.
And what applies to professionals applies, amplified, to amateurs.
Why do amateurs still ignore physical preparation?
His answer to this question is without complacencyBut it has the merit of clarity. First, there is a simple factor : If even the professionals aren't yet lined up, it's difficult to expect the amateurs to be..
"The world peloton is only just beginning to seriously incorporate strength, mobility, and postural work, whereas in other sports, these have been standards for twenty years."
Then there is the time constraint…or rather, the perception of this constraint. A cyclist who already rides 10 to 15 hours a week often feels that every minute spent on anything other than cycling is a potential loss.
Aurélien sums it up in one sentence: "We're focusing more on volume instead of better preparing the body."
Finally, there is the weight of traditionWe reproduce what the ancients did, we perpetuate habits, sometimes beliefs… even when science has long since debunked these certainties.
Among the myths he points out, you can find some classics…
- "Weight training makes you heavy."
- "Mobility is for yogis."
- "Strength is useless on a hill."
- "Core training consists of 3 x 30-second planks."
His conclusion is unequivocal. : "Science has proven the opposite for each of these points."
At 3bikesWe could add: field practice as well. This is clearly visible in the top-level pelotons, in the Grand Tours, among the best teams: strength and physical preparation are no longer options. They are becoming a standard.
The challenge now is to get this message across in clubs, among passionate practitioners, and among those who juggle a professional life, a personal life, and increasingly demanding career paths.
What PPG could change in amateur cycling
When asked what would happen if physical preparation, strength, mobility, and postural work finally became a pillar in amateur cycling, his answer consists of three “revolutions”…
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His formula sums it all up: "Ride better, stronger, and longer."
And we, at 3bikesWe cannot help but draw a connection with what we observe on the ground: cyclists exhausted by the volumebut still “green” muscularly; recurring lower back pain; knee pain that returns at the start of each season; burning neck pain after every outing of more than four hours.
By focusing solely on the amount of time spent in the saddle, amateur cycling has built itself a glass ceilingAurélien suggests attacking this ceiling… from below, by reconbuilding the body.
Reconbuild the athlete before the cyclist
When asked how he reconIf he were to structure the physical preparation for cycling from scratch, his answer is crystal clear: “I would start with recon"Develop the athlete before the cyclist."
Cycling, he explains, is a magnificent sport… but also a sport that confines the body : closed posture, buttocks that go to sleep, lack of rotation, limited mobility of the hip, ankle, rib cage.
His plan consists of four steps
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His vision could be summarized as follows: First, a body that knows how to move; second, a body that knows how to push; finally, a body that knows how to absorb.
Only then do the hours spent on the bike yield their full return.
Degrees, field experience, think tank: a three-pronged expertisetages
Aurélien does not hide his academic background: two masters in sports science, state diplomas, international certifications such as the NSCA, years spent on the staff of professional teams, in the laboratory, on the field.
More what catches our attention, at 3bikes, It's the way he evaluates these elements.
"To say the least, I didn't learn much there. I clearly learned more from books. State diplomas provided structure, international certifications like the NSCA, and above all, my years working on professional team staff, in the lab and on the field."
Above all, he emphasizes a little-known device: a think tanks with physical trainers with whom he spends a whole week each year training, then bi-monthly meetings to exchange, practice, and compare ideas.
Here again, we find the same triptych: "True expertise comes from the combination of three things: theory, practice, and pedagogy."
We sense this mix in every response: an idea is never validated solely because it is “in the literature”. It must pass the test of the field, and then be translatable into concrete, transmissible tools.
Science, fieldwork, intuition: a triangle to guide training
À the question of the balance between science and fieldworkThe answer could have been agreed upon. It is not.
“For me, science provides the framework, but it doesn’t always provide the answer. I rely heavily on data, studies, models… but I keep in mind that experience and intuition carry exactly the same weight. Because an athlete isn’t an Excel spreadsheet. It’s a body, a history, fatigue, a psychology.”
What he describes is a demanding cohabitation :
- Science provides structure and prevents excesses;
- The terrain validates or invalidates the models;
- Intuition refines in real time what the other two cannot capture.
We have the impression of hearing the opposite of what we sometimes see circulating in amateur cycling:
On one side, the “all data”, on the other, the “all sensations”.
Aurélien refuses this false choice. For him, true physical preparation is a triangle where each of the three points—science, terrain, intuition—plays its part. When the three are aligned, he says, Coaching becomes simple… and above all, effective..
In the context of amateur cycling, where many participants juggle watches, sensors, platforms, but also busy schedules, daily fatigue and personal constraints, This vision seems more precious to us than ever..
Embracing the digital shift without losing nuance
There remains one point we wanted to address: his presence on social mediaBecause he's not just a field coach or a classroom trainer. He's also a voice that's listened to on Instagram.tagRAM, YouTube, in podcasts, conferences.
He smiles at our (my) legendary superlatives, and in this case, when we talk to him about "hundreds of thousands of subscribers": "Tens of thousands is already quite a lot!"
Digital technology, far from distorting it, has forced it to be even more precise.
"When you're talking to a room of 200 coaches, you have time, you can elaborate, add nuance, go back over things. On Instagram..."tag"Whether it's RAM or YouTube, you sometimes have ten seconds to grab someone's attention and get them thinking. That pushed me to clarify my messages: get straight to the point without losing the substance."
For him, short formats are not an end in themselves, but rather... entrance doors.
“On social media, I create entry points: a strong idea, a principle that you can grasp in a few seconds. That’s the surface. But behind it, there’s an ecosystem: my books, my training courses, my podcasts, my conferences… The short format is never the end: it’s the beginning of the conversation.”
We were particularly struck by this sentence: "Modernity must never crush the truth."
In other words: accepting a punchy style doesn't mean abandoning nuance. The condition, he explains, is to practice before you speakAccording to him, it is experience that prevents simplification from turning into caricature.
Ultimately, he approaches social media in exactly the same way he approaches a therapy session:
an clear intentionuseful content, a requirement for consistency between what he does, what he says and what he shows.
Faith, sacred fire, and a message to amateur cyclists
On several occasions, Aurélien returns to a concept that transcends technology and science: the faithNot a vague belief, but a deep conviction in the path.
“What I seek to convey first and foremost is not a method, nor a technique. It’s faith. Not hope: a deep conviction. ‘I don’t think you’re going to succeed… I know it.’ The athlete feels it. The coach too. Performance begins there.”
At 3bikes, we see here a very strong point of convergence with amateur cycling.
Because behind the FTP, the training plans, and the Sunday outings, there are people wondering: Can I really improve? Do I really have potential? Can my body still change?
His response, aimed at amateur cyclists, is disarmingly clear: "Stop believing that progress means adding hours."
Cycling, he reminds us, is a tricky sport. The more you ride, the more you think you need to ride even more to improve. However, he says, We don't progress by exhausting ourselves; we progress by becoming more well-rounded..
Perhaps this is where the heart of his message to our community lies:
- la room for improvement it's not just about the kilometers;
- It is in the movement, in the mobility, in the strength, in the short burst of power, in the way one recovers;
- It is, above all, in the ability to believe that one can truly change level, provided one accepts to train differently.
"Most amateurs lack talent, fitness, or willpower. They simply lack method... and sometimes faith."
What we remember about 3bikes
When we leave the room, We feel we've stumbled upon something essential. for today's amateur cycling.
What we remember about Aurélien Broussal-Derval is not just an impressive CVnor a brilliant speech. It is the articulation of three dimensions which, taken together, can transform our way of thinking about progress…
A nuanced understanding of movement
The cyclist is not just an engine on a frameIt is a body that produces, absorbs, and transmits forces. As long as this body remains confined within its limitations—lack of mobility, weakness of the posterior chain, absence of functional strength—the motor cannot fully express itself.
A scientific requirement… but never disembodied
The data is not the problem. The problem is isolating them from the rest The athlete's story, his fatigue, his psychology, his context. For him, science provides the framework, the field brings the reality, intuition makes the connection.
A pedagogy contagious
He does not just train athletes; he trains coacheswho will themselves train athletes. He provides recipes, but also how to adapt them, understand them, and pass them on. He lights fires, to use his expression, that continue to burn elsewhere.
For us, at 3bikesThe message is crystal clear.… Yes, amateur cycling can, and must, move beyond its exclusive obsession with volume and watts.
- Yes, physical preparation, mobility, strength, short-term power, and better load management can change trajectory of an amateur cyclist, regardless of their current level.
- And yes, this will require shaking up habits, myths, and reassuring routines.
But what this encounter reminded us is that the potential is there.
“Train your body, train your movement, train your mind. Cycling will give you everything – and even more.”tage. »
The quote is from Aurélien. The responsibility now lies in our hands.…and under our pedals.
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