Power Profile with Ivanie Blondin - An Athlete For All Seasons

As we put this blog together, Canadian Ivanie Blondin, along with members of the Goldman-Sachs ETF’s Racing team, are likely spinning out the legs and readying themselves for tonight’s Gastown Grand Prix in Vancouver, BC. A historic race with a legendary list of past winners and participants, including Blondin, who finished 3rd in the 2023 edition (in her first attempt) behind 4-time winner, Kendall Ryan and Paris-Roubaix winner, Alison Jackson.

If you’re unfamiliar with her sporting resume, it would be forgivable to assume she’s a full-time, world-class road cyclist… when in fact she’s an Olympic gold and silver medal-winning long track speed skater, who now spends her “off-season” competing as a world-class road cyclist. Ivanie took some time amidst her travels for a summer of criterium races across North America to fill us in on how cycling plays a role in her athletic goals, what she loves about it, and how training and racing with power has been a key to success.

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What got you into cycling? Is it something you grew up doing, or was it a by-product of your training as a long-distance speed skater?

As a long track speed skater we do train a lot on the bike, about 75% of our training during the summer is cycling and we also travel with our bikes, as it plays a major part of our training and preparation for races. I did race on the velodrome for a brief period as a junior and represented team Ontario at the 2006 Canadian National Track Championships, in Bromont Quebec, where I won the Scratch Race and took third in the 2000m Individual Pursuit. What got me back into bike racing was my skating teammate Connor Howe, who suggested I participate in the Canadian National Championships in Edmonton, Alberta in 2022. I had never raced on the road, but after coming home from Beijing with a gold and a silver I was on a mission for new adventures and new goals that could complement my training… I ended up finishing 9th in the Elite Women’s Road Race.

I think it’s fair to say that your close 2nd place finish behind Canadian cycling legend and Paris-Roubaix Femmes winner, Alison Jackson, at last year’s Gastown Grand Prix was a break-out ride for you. How did it feel to produce such a stellar ride and put your name on the cycling map?

It was honestly one of my best experiences in sport! With the crowd lining the course at the Gastown Grand Prix, it felt like I was racing in the Olympics again. The field was tough and it was a steep learning curve for me but once the field strung out at the end I just put in the watts and used my mass start positioning skills to snag a third place finish. I was ecstatic! It really got me hooked on criterium racing and ultimately what made me pursue racing professionally. Standing along side such incredible athletes before the race had even started was honestly an honour. I’ve had the privilege to train along side Leah Kirchmann in Calgary and spend a bit of time with Alison Jackson before the race and they truly helped me find my bravery for that race.

You joined Goldman-Sachs ETF’s Racing for the 2024 season, how did that come about and what is your race calendar looking like with them?

After Gastown, I started to look around for opportunities with teams, as I now had a result to my name. I reached out to them through social media, and when the owner of the team, Tish Kelly, asked Justine Thomas if she knew of me (she also came from short track skating), she gave me the backup that I needed to land an interview, and eventually join the squad. My race calendar is actually much more than I thought I could have done with them, which is absolutely amazing. The speed skating national team gave me the go-ahead to do whatever races I wanted to do, so I now have a full race calendar. It started with USA speed week, did all but one USA Crits series, Armed Forces, Tulsa Tough, Canadian National Championships, Salt Lake City Crit, Gastown Grand Prix again (yay!), Chicago Grit (formerly Intelligentsia) and possibly Gateway, before I head back into my skating season.

A lot of talented athletes who try their hand at road racing struggle to make their ability translate, due to a lack of “pack skills” and comfort maneuvering within the often intimidating confines of the bunch. You seem to have no issue with that aspect of racing and consistently put yourself in contention and/or on podiums in some of the biggest criterium races in North America. Why do you think it’s been such a natural progression for you?

I think my skills maneuvering on the ice in a pack translates very well to the bike. The mass start event is all about positioning, it’s definitely a bit harder for me on the bike but I can still get around. I thrive in chaos, I’m not easily scared and I don’t shy away when things get really hard, so I think I have the right mindset to make it work. I still have a lot to learn and I have and will make some mistakes in the future. I’m lucky to have a team around me who are willing to take the chance and have so much patience with me, so I can learn and grow. The girls have been so great to me, teaching me constantly every day, giving me advice, but most importantly trusting in me.

You just came off a highly successful US-Speedweek campaign with the team, you were leading the overall series standing going into the final race when a crash threw a bit of a wrench in things. You still finished an impressive 3rd overall in the series, how was that experience of condensed crit races? Any highlights or moments that stand out from it?

It was an absolute blast and I loved every moment of it! The crashes were big learning moments for me and that’s all part of the process. The racing itself was just so much fun, every race was different and the girls really helped me through it all. Lagrange was definitely one that stood out for me. I unfortunately slid out in a corner when trying to bridge to the breakaway, went to the pit, got back on my bike and ended up finishing fourth (second in field sprint). Despite having fallen and being covered in road rash I was able to finish and I was really happy to have pushed through it. I also had my teammate Taylor give me an incredible lead out for the final sprint, which was so satisfying for us to execute during this particular race.

2024 has been a step up in competition and the calibre of events you’re contesting. How are you finding the experience of racing with a full squad, and what would you say your role is within the team?

The experience is magical. It’s so surreal for me to be experiencing this and it honestly feels like I’m a junior all over again going to my first junior worlds. I am learning a lot of the team racing strategies but it’s not so different than in skating. A couple more moving parts but it’s very similar so it’s easy for me to catch on. At this point my role has mostly been the sprinter so I will save myself for the final sprints and the girls will protect me and move me in the pack when needed, if I get too far back. I’ve also been a working horse closing and sending attacks which was also a lot of fun to execute.

As an experienced and highly accomplished athlete in one sport, what lessons or guidance do you feel you bring to your teammates on Goldman-Sachs ETF’s, despite being relatively new to bike racing?

I honestly feel like they’re constantly taking me under their wing and helping me through the entire process. I think one thing I bring to the team is years of experience working under pressure and the competitiveness that I bring to the team to always want to perform.

Do you feel you’re learning new skills or strategies from bike racing that will give you more tools to work with on the ice when you compete?

Absolutely. Mass start is like a less complex version of crit racing. Of course you have way less teammates, but the strategies, or when to attack or bridge, etc. will definitely come in handy in my coming seasons.

For those who don’t realize how much riding long-track speed skaters do, can you shed some light on how significant it is in your training and preparation? (Some examples: how many kilometers ridden in a year, length of endurance rides you commonly do, what a week of training might look like in the summer, how you use the bike to warm up/cool down for skating events, how you travel with your bikes for skating events, etc.)

As a mid to long distance speed skater, we ride a lot. It is part of our weekly training as well as racing preparation. When we travel, we travel with our bikes from event to event. We are definitely riding a lot more during the summer for aerobic/anaerobic base (between 200-400km weekly depending on where we are in our training blocks). Mondays we start the week of with weight training in the morning. We often follow that up with an afternoon bike ride that include some sprints. On most morning we’re doing specific speed skating training and we compliment that with riding in the afternoon. Saturdays we do our longer ride and it totals to 10-12hrs of riding per week next to our specific speedskating training. It can be a lot!

What data are you paying most attention to when training and/or racing on the bike (ex. Power zones, cadence)?

I am mostly looking at power output, as we do a lot of interval riding in specific zones. When I’m looking at data from racing I mostly also look at power - max/peak power (sprint) and normalized power to see how efficiently I’m moving through the peloton during the race.

Can you give an example of a couple of power-based workouts you might use as part of your training (ex, 4hrs endurance staying in a certain range of watts/cadence, some short intervals, etc.)?

We do a lot of variety for bike training. Some is interval based and some are nice long rides 3-4.5hrs staying in a range of 120-160W (Z 1-2) or having it average between this range. We do some workouts that we are designed to fail / unable to complete such as:

• 30min warm-up @ Z1-2
• 3min @ Z4
• 5min @ Z1
• 7 × 2min @ Z3 followed by 10s burst @ Z6
• 25min recovery @ Z1
• Repeat the 7 × Z3 + Z6 intervals
• 15min @ Z1 cool down

Obviously, having a power meter and establishing your “zones” is a key part of being able to do specific workouts like this.

Alternatively, could you name some drills or exercises you do as a speed skater that you think could benefit those of us who only know how to pedal lol? (ex, the dryland exercises I see you guys doing - hopping around from leg to leg, box jumps, stair running, etc.)

We do a lot of jumping in our dryland programs with lateral focus for the explosive aspect of our sport. So for example we would do what we call a skater jump from side to side, so you’re in a low skating position on one leg and you jump high and laterally to the side and catch yourself with your other leg in skating position. I also tend to do a lot of lateral stability exercises in the gym that help me reinforce all the small muscles in my calves, hips and lower back. A lot of these exercises are single legs - banded single leg with different end range positions with the back leg, in order to engage different parts of your glutes/hips. Another would be single leg box step ups with a barbell with a 90 degree knee angle for the leg that’s being driven through at the end, and pause with stability before stepping back down. The more my small stability muscles are strong, the better I feel on the ice and on the bike because I can then better engage my bigger muscles (quads, glutes, hamstrings).

You’ve been using a 4iiii power meter for a couple of seasons now, what are some aspects of the product you find most useful or general feedback on your experience with it?

I find the 4iiii power meter very reliable. The app is also a very cool feature we can use to be able to calibrate and the find my bike is a very cool hidden feature for peace of mind. I have also forgotten my computer once and was able to use the 4iiii app to track my activity on my phone which was pretty cool.

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Thanks to Ivanie for sharing her great insights and experiences, if you’d like to follow Ivanie and her team you can find them here:

• @ivanieblondin
• @gs_etfs_racing

Check out the PRECISION 3+ Powermeter that Ivanie and the Goldman-Sachs ETF’s Racing team use for their training and racing purposes.