With professionalism in women’s cycling surging in recent years, so too have the demands of racing. The stakes are higher, the margins tighter, and the competition fiercer. As the bar continually rises, teams must adapt by refining every aspect of training and performance, ensuring riders have the tools to excel under intense racing conditions.

Enter CORE.

Founded in 2019, CORE is a Swiss-based company specialising in wearables for continuous, accurate internal body temperature monitoring. Their user-friendly sensor harnesses Swiss-manufactured technology to provide real-time, precise core temperature data, which riders and coaching staff can easily access via Hammerhead bike computers or the CORE mobile app.

The CORE sensor is the first and only wearable solution that provides accurate temperature data without relying on ingested or inserted thermometers.

CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto first partnered with CORE in August 2021, at a time when internal body temperature monitoring wasn’t as widely emphasised as it is today. As CORE puts it: “cooler is faster”, a motto all riders can attest to. A prime example of this came in 2024 when Neve Bradbury won the Queen stage of the Giro d’Italia atop the iconic Blockhaus, and finished third in the general classification. This victory was significant not just for the win itself, but for the extreme conditions of the 2024 Giro, which blunted the ambitions of many other riders.

Neve’s ability to maintain her cool and perform at her best despite consecutive days of temperatures reaching nearly 40 degrees was a landmark result – one that was assisted by years of valuable data-driven insights. Through combining rider data with CORE’s thermoregulation expertise, the team were able to create actionable training and racing plans in and around the 2024 Giro.

Heading into a fourth season of collaboration, CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto continues to prioritise heat training as a key performance tool. With January racing taking place under the searing Australian sun, strategic heat training has already played a central role in 2025 preparations. Head of Performance, Stephen Gallagher, explains:

“Our preparation for 2025 involved targeted heat training to help riders get ready for the demands of early-season racing. With our season starting in the Australian summer, we incorporated several methods to help us prepare for the hot temperatures. This involved a structured 3-4 week phase of heat training done on the bike, primarily indoors, in which we progressively increased the frequency of sessions from two to four sessions per week. Each session typically consisted of 45 to 75 minute of controlled heat strain, designed to develop adaptations for racing in the heat and improve sweat rate efficiency.”

CORE was integrated into this plan in two key ways.

“First, we used CORE in training to help riders prepare for racing in hot conditions, undertaking strategic sessions that helped the body to adapt to the heat and allowed riders to perform at an optimal level in all conditions. Secondly, we monitored heat strain during the racing to assess performance in real-world scenarios with differing temperatures. By combining our data analysis with contextual information and subjective feedback, we could precisely evaluate rider performance. Moving forward, we continue to develop a clearer understanding of race demands and can then better replicate these conditions in training.”

CANYON//SRAM Zondacrypto will refine its approach in the upcoming seasons, using a more targeted and data-driven strategy.

“With a growing bank of knowledge and data, the goal is to further personalise training protocols and understand how different conditions impact the performance of different riders. CORE’s sensors and analytics allow for the tailoring each heat training session, enabling us to track exact progression in structured and specific heat training blocks, both in the training period itself and then across the wider season.”

By leveraging CORE technology, CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto can fine-tune its approach to thermoregulation – monitoring heat strain, adjusting sweat rates, and analysing real-time data to optimise performance. This partnership isn’t just about pushing harder in training; it’s about training smarter in hotter conditions to race more effectively in cooler ones.

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