Inside the Spanish altitude training base used by Pogacar, Van der Poel and Evenepoel

Winter is here in the northern hemisphere and this close to Christmas many countries are experiencing temperatures close to zero. Most cyclists share a preoccupation with the weather, with amateurs and professionals alike checking the temperature and wind before every ride. Warm conditions and dry roads are vastly preferable to cycling in winter even if you are wearing the best cycling overshoes or one of the best winter jackets. A winter of riding in the cold and wet can quickly become trying.

This is the reason most professional cyclists will migrate south to find a warmer climate and log quality winter miles on dry roads. With most pro riders covering the same distance in a few months many of us mere mortals cover in a year, a pleasant and warm training environment is a pre-requisite for a winter training camp.

Warm weather and altitude training camps are nothing new for professional riders looking to build fitness, and many pro team pre-season training camps are held each year in places like Mallorca and California.

The Syncrosfera fitness and health hotel in Denia, Spain has grown in popularity with professional cyclists since it opened its doors in January 2021. Syncrosfera has become popular partly due to its custom hypoxic hotel rooms which can recreate the atmospheric conditions of staying at altitude, allowing riders to avoid the possibility of inclement weather or travelling to an isolated location. In the time it has been open, Syncrosfera has been used as a training base by some of the biggest names in the sport including Mathieu Van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel and world gravel champion Gianni Vermeersch.

Denia sits in between Valencia and Alicante on the Costa Blanca and its Mediterranean climate usually means it has mild winters, making it an easy-to-reach and pleasant place to train. The hotel boasts ex-professional rider and Olympic and world road race medallist Alexandr Kolobnev as its CEO, who has drawn on his experience as a pro rider to try to create an all-encompassing training and recovery environment for today's professional riders. 

Syncrosfera aims to provide everything a professional could need to aid performance and recovery in one place. From hypoxic altitude rooms to physiotherapy, pressotherapy and podiatry, nutrition help or even bike fit services. The 46-room hotel, which is around an hour's drive from Alicante airport, aims to have everything a rider or amateur may need in one place to minimise stress and maximise performance. 

While there for the Zwift Academy finals in November, Cyclingnews sat down with commercial director Juan Balerdi, who explained the hotel's philosophy in more detail and talked about how it draws on Kolobnev's experiences as a rider. "He was actually the person that needed this kind of hospitality when he was a pro, he got an injury before a big competition," Balerdi said, highlighting Kolobnev's awareness of the gap in the market for a one-stop shop for recovery and athlete care. 

Kolobnev knew the commitment required to compete at the top in cycling. "This hotel is about very, very high standards," Balerdi said. "We try to perform at the highest every day. The owner of the concept is a person that pushed himself to the limit". 

Hypoxic hotel rooms mean a pre-set altitude can be set for the room, which is much more comfortable than sleeping in an altitude tent or in an isolated hotel at the top of a mountain. Altitude training is popular with athletes because it helps increase the amount of oxygen delivered to muscles by increasing the red blood cell count. This can provide a clear advantage to cyclists and nearly all WorldTour riders use altitude training nowadays in order to be competitive. 

Mathieu van der Poel was clearly impressed when he sat down with Cyclingnews at the hotel. "The hypoxic room is the most beneficial," he said. "I've never known a hotel that has this kind of room, and for sure it's way nicer than being in a tent." 

On the hypoxic rooms, Balerdi explained the benefits of having them in the hotel itself and the reasons they are so popular with riders. "We are able to control the atmosphere and control the oxygen inside the room so the athletes can train low and sleep high," he said, explaining that at times real-world high-altitude conditions can be testing and can hinder the consistent training that is essential for WorldTour riders. "Altitude also has cold weather, rainy days and slippy roads, as a pro rider skipping training days is not a possibility,". 

With WorldTour riders operating at such a high level, mini-training camps or periods at altitude are commonplace, especially before big goals or grand tours. Syncrosfera has been visited by some of the biggest names in the sport before key events. "We got Mathieu before the Giro d'Italia, we have Remco before the Vuelta a España," said Balerdi. 

Mount Teide in Tenerife has been visited by pro teams for years for its altitude benefits for years, with teams staying at the isolated Hotel Parador, though riders often descend down to sea level to ride before climbing back up to altitude. With altitude mini camps effectively the norm before big events for professional riders, Syncrosfera looks to be in a strong position to become a firm favourite.