Rich Young of Experience Plus wrote a very good article called Periodization and Predictions for the '05 Tour de France where he briefly explained the concept of periodization ("you can't be superhuman all twelve months of the year") and went on to discuss the prospects of each of the major Tour contenders with their previous performances in the 2005 pro cycling season in mind.

Young thinks Lance Armstrong and Jan Ulrich will return to the top of the podium in this year's Tour de France, while Alexander Vinokourov may hit his peak before the key points in this year's race.

Dr. Stephen Cheung's Periodization and Peaking is a terrific article about what periodization of training is and how it came to be a factor at all levels of cycling. This article is more helpful to people who are trying to get deeper into the subject or athletes who are looking for an introduction before delving into a longer text like The Cyclist's Training Bible to improve their own performance.

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