REVAL ACADEMY: Cycling Performance Day

When the legs don’t deliver: from suspicion to return to performance in Iliac Artery Flow Limitations

Manu Wemel

Drawing on his clinical work and experience in professional cycling, his masterclass will focus on the clinical reasoning behind iliac artery flow limitations (IAFL) in cyclists: when to suspect a vascular problem, how to approach the clinical assessment, and how to guide rehabilitation and return to performance. The aim is to translate a complex clinical presentation into a practical framework that can be applied in daily practice.

Lower Deck

Fuelling reassessed: exogenous CHO oxidation, unresolved questions, and practical next steps

Tim Podlogar 

Skyroom 2.02

9:00am

Welcome & Coffee

9:30am

Congress opening

Chiel Poffé

9:35am

Lactate supplementation: the next frontier in elite sports?

Ruben Robberechts

10:15am

The science behind carbohydrate fueling in professional cycling

Tim Podlogar

11:15am

Coffee break

11:45am

Strength training for endurance athletes: benefits, principles and an applied performance model

Maarten Thyssen

12:30pm

Lunch Break

1:15pm

Strength training for WorldTour cyclists: Translating biomechanics into performance

Peter Gascoigne

2:00pm

On the intersection of physiology, performance and cardiology: The endurance athlete's heart

Boris Delpire

2:45pm

Coffee break

3:15pm

How strength training is included in the world tour calendar? Possibilities and limitations

Jasper Vaeck

4:00pm

Reception

Boris Delpire

Peter Gascoigne

Peter is a Strength & Conditioning coach, qualified with a Bachelors degree in Sport & Exercise Science and Masters in Strength & Conditioning from Edinburgh University. 

With a professional background in the UK Sports Institute since 2013 and the Great Britain Cycling Team since 2017, Peter has lead the S&C support for all Olympic endurance squads across track, road and mountain bike, playing a role in many medal successes.  He has been an integral member of both the endurance coaching and strength & conditioning support teams.  Along with supporting bike riders, Peter also works with other endurance disciplines including athletes in long distance running and ironman. 

Peter is currently the S&C coach for World Tour Team Bahrain Victorious. 

Peter’s philosophy with all athletes he works with is an athlete-centred, needs-hierarchy approach supported by a strong evidence base. He is used to working closely with coaches and in a multi disciplinary team to provide a holistic approach to athlete development and support. 

Tim Podlogar

Dr. Tim Podlogar is a Lecturer in Applied Physiology at the University of Exeter, specialising in endurance exercise metabolism and sports nutrition, with a particular focus on carbohydrate utilisation, and translating laboratory insights into real-world performance. His work spans mechanistic studies (including stable-isotope tracer methodologies) and applied research in elite endurance sport. 

Alongside his academic role, Tim has extensive experience in professional cycling. He has worked as a nutritionist with Red Bull BORA-hansgrohe, supporting Grand Tour-winning performances including Jai Hindley and Primož Roglič, and he currently serves as a nutrition and physiology consultant for Tudor Pro Cycling. His day-to-day work sits at the interface of research, athlete servicing, and high-performance decision-making, with an emphasis on evidence-based, implementable nutrition strategies for endurance competition.

Chiel Poffé

Chiel Poffé is assistant professor at the Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences of Hasselt University, and works at the interface of exercise physiology, skeletal muscle biology, nutrition and elite sport.  Besides his academic role, he is, together with dr. Ruben Robberechts, scientific advisor for Soudal Quick-Step and AG Insurance-Soudal cycling teams. Within these roles, they apply advanced physiological and biological analyses to improve performance, recovery and rehabilitation in world-class cyclists and aim to translate their mechanistic insights into practical applications for elite athletes.

Ruben Robberechts

Ruben Robberechts is postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Prof. dr. Chiel Poffé and his current research line focuses on the potential of lactate supplementation to improve performance and modulate energy metabolism during exercise.

Besides their academic roles, Chiel and Ruben are scientific advisors for Soudal Quick-Step and AG Insurance-Soudal cycling teams. Within this role, they apply advanced physiological and biological analyses to improve performance, recovery and rehabilitation in world-class cyclists and aim to translate their mechanistic insights into practical applications for elite athletes.

Maarten Thysen

Maarten Thysen (MSc Physical Education and Movement Sciences & MSc Physiotherapy, KU Leuven) has supported elite athletes and international high-performance teams for more than 20 years at the intersection of strength training, injury prevention and rehabilitation. 

Since 2007, he has been part of Team Belgium (BOIC), supporting summer & winter athletes at nine Olympic Games. In recognition of his contribution to elite sport, he received the Flemish Sports Jewel Award in 2022. 

In 2025, Maarten co-founded ORBIT (Leuven), a specialised interdisciplinary center for health and performance optimisation. He also works as an expert for Sport Vlaanderen, supporting elite-sport federations in the continued professionalisation of their performance programs, with a particular focus on interdisciplinary collaboration & monitoring. As a Strength & Conditioning expert for Team Belgium, Maarten helps strengthen the knowledge, culture and implementation of strength training as a foundation for health, robustness and performance in elite sport. 

Jasper Vaeck

Jasper Vaeck is performance coach at WT men team of Visma lease a bike. This includes being responsible for the training program of 10 cyclists and including their strength training. This is performed in cooperation with the strength and conditional coach. 

He has been coaching cyclists since 2015, first as an independent coach and later linked to teams. He has included various forms of strength training in all seasons. This started with being responsible himself for including the strength training towards working together with a strength coach towards working into the WT calendar and camp situations.

Manu Wemel

Manu Wemel is a sports physiotherapist and co-founder of SQUADT, a sports physiotherapy and rehabilitation practice with locations in Waregem, Ghent and Kortrijk. He works with recreational and elite athletes, with a strong focus on sports rehabilitation, strength training and return to performance. 

Manu is also part of the medical staff of Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team, where he is involved in athlete screening, rehabilitation and strength training.