Ospreys stars are literally set to get on their bikes in preparation for Friday"â¬â¢s visit of Borders to the Liberty Stadium.
Ospreys stars are literally set to get on their bikes in preparation for Friday’s visit of Borders to the Liberty Stadium. Thanks to a special agreement with Swansea firm Cycle World, the players will hit the Neath Valley mountain tracks on brand new top of the range mountain bikes.
When the time is right for a change of scenery from the training pitch, the regions coaches will now be able to send their players on fitness rides after the Ospreys this week took delivery of eight bikes provided by Cycle World in Llansamlet. The bicycles will be used by players returning from injury, or as an alternative to the gym or rugby pitch and it follows on from a successful pre-season training exercise at Afan Argoed Country Park.
Ospreys Fitness Coach Huw Bevan explained:
“The squad visited Afan Argoed 2/3 times a week to go mountain biking as part of our pre-season programme, helping the players build up their fitness towards peak levels for the start of the season, and it proved a successful exercise that was popular with the whole squad.
“Sometimes its good to offer players an alternative to the gym or the rugby pitch as it helps to keep them stimulated, particularly when they are returning from injury and can’t do full contact training on the pitch as it takes them away from the mundane routine of gym work. By utilising different training regimes and providing some variety to the players daily schedules, you keep everyone fresh and I find that this is a far more effective way of working with professional sportsmen than sticking to the same routine every day.
“We are very grateful to Cycle World who have very kindly provided us with these eight bikes, which will be put to great use by the whole squad who are looking forward to returning to the mountain trails at Afan Argoed!”
Mark Edmunds of Cycle World added:
“As the leading supplier of mountain bikes in Wales, we are honoured to be able to help out the country’s leading regional rugby side in this way. We are all huge rugby fans, so when the Ospreys approached us for advice on Trek and Specialized mountain bikes, we were only too pleased to assist them by providing these bicycles.
“Hopefully, this will be just the start of a long term relationship between Cycle World and the Ospreys, and we will be looking to assist them with their cycling needs for many seasons to come and hopefully, helping to bring further success to the region!”