Bicycling: In your debut season on the WorldTour you’ve mixed it up with the sport’s best riders. How does this year compare to last year, when you raced on the Garmin development team?
Alex Howes: Doing the WorldTour races has been a pretty smooth transition. It’s not so much that the races are harder now—I mean, they are harder—but it’s racing them back to back to back. Recovery becomes the hardest part. In terms of results, it’s great to look back at Brabantse Pijl and see that result, but I’m really pleased with how I rode in Liège. It was the hardest day of racing I’ve ever had.
Bicycling: How so?
Howes: It was 260 kilometers, and there was something like 14,000 feet of climbing, although positioning for the climbs was harder than the climbing itself. It was pretty cold and it was wet.
Bicycling: Can you describe what a typical day of training is like for you right now?
Howes: Well, my next race is the Tour of California, which has a lot of climbing this year. I got up at 9:30, ate some cereal and a couple of apples, and drank a huge glass of water. Then I met up with a few of my teammates, and we did a four-and-a-half-hour ride with lots of climbing, about 10,000 feet. I believe the way you become a better climber really is to just climb more. I came home and had a little pasta, and I’ll probably have an early night.
Bicycling: Now that’s professional.
Howes: [Laughs] Yeah, well, my experience on the Garmin development team was really important in teaching us how to be professionals. I learned how to stay focused.
Bicycling: Speaking of training, are you a power-meter guy or do you go more by feel?
Howes: In terms of training, I go more by feel than by power. When I was younger I was sort of a runt, so I’d get intimidated looking at the power files of guys in the Tour de France. Over time I sort of moved away from power and today pretty much go by feel. It’s worked for me. What I do like about my computer, though, is to see the climbing data and the routes I’ve ridden. I’m actually a little bummed I didn’t get to see my data from Liège—I had to rush to the airport after the race.
Bicycling: Tell us something we don’t know about Garmin-Barracuda.
Howes: This year the team has a lot of younger riders, which makes it exciting. Not only are we all hanging together and training in Girona [Spain], but it shows in races too. We’re out there going for it; we’re motivated.
Howes riding in his first Classics race, the Amstel Gold, in 2012. (Photo by Kristof Ramon)
Bicycling: What have you learned from the older riders?
Howes: Having more experienced guys like Tom [Danielson] and Christian [Vande Velde] has been really good. They help keep us in line. They remind us that even though we can attack during races here and there, we have to ride in support of others and be ready to do that. They have a lot to share with the guys coming up.
Bicycling: You came up through the Garmin development team and are now racing on the pro squad. What was your first impression of Garmin?
Howes: It was made clear from the start that there’s a zero-tolerance policy toward doping. I remember one of the first team meetings I was in. Jonathan Vaughters said there’s no room for error on this point, so if you don’t like it, there’s the door. I've always really respected that.
Bicycling: Do you dream of racing in the Tour de France?
Howes: Yeah, for sure. But for now there are more senior guys on the team who have a better shot at doing well in the Tour. Right now, the race I want to do most is USA Pro. It’s my home roads, so to be able to go out and ride well there would be amazing.
Bicycling: What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “Garmin”?
Howes: Argyle!
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