'In races, I don’t use power or heart rate at all' - Matthew Riccitello opens up about racing the old school way

Riccitello’s early impression is more about atmosphere than structure.

“It’s been great. Just coming to the team, it seems like it’s a really ambitious group, and everyone is excited and motivated,” Riccitello told the Sigma Sports Unplugged podcast. “It feels more international than French. Riders from all over, and English is the main language.”

That sense of clarity is part of why he signed. Riccitello does not hide the fact that he had options after his breakthrough Vuelta a España where he ended up fifth in the general classification, but one conversation stuck. 

“It wasn’t just like, ‘This is where we hope to be.’ It was like, ‘This is where we want to be, and this is how we’re going to get there,’” he said. “They want to be one of the best teams in the world, and being part of that is really exciting.”

They have already started talking specifics. “We’ve had talks with the coaches about what I can do specifically in my training to try and get better, work on my weaknesses,” Riccitello said.  

Time trialling sits high on that list. Riccitello is clear about the ceiling, but also about the opportunity. “Time trialling is something I’m never gonna be the best in the world at because of how small I am,” he said. “But it’s something I feel like I’ve been good at since I started.

“What we can do with the time trial bike and time trial setup, and when we can do wind tunnel testing, and when we can be at the velodrome, that’s all planned out.” 

His move to Decathlon also came with a rare luxury, as his coach came with him. “I started with Marc Quod last year, and fortunately he came over to Decathlon at the same time I did,” Riccitello says. “I’ve got that continuity. One less thing to change.”

That continuity fits the way Riccitello approaches racing itself. He is not dismissive of data, but he refuses to let it dictate decisions once the race is on. 

“In races, I don’t use power or heart rate at all, really. I never look at it in a race to make decisions,” he said, adding that at the Vuelta, he sometimes removed the choice entirely. “There were a lot of days where I didn’t even have a power meter on my bike, just to get the bike lighter,” he said.