Inside the pain cave of Rally Cycling's Matteo Dal-Cin

Matteo Dal-Cin's pain cave
(Image credit: Matteo Dal-Cin)

The professional peloton has been relegated to racing in the virtual realm as the coronavirus pandemic has shuttered all real-world races and events such as the Digital Swiss 5 on Rouvy, the Zwift Tour for All and the virtual Tour of Flanders on BKool have helped fill the void a little bit. They've also shown that relatively unknown riders can put out some huge watts. Rally Cycling's Matteo Dal-Cin impressed with a fifth place in race 2 of the Digital Swiss 5 and gave Cyclingnews some of his secrets for going pedal-stroke to pedal-stroke against the top riders in the WorldTour.

Dal-Cin, who lives in Canada's capital city, Ottawa, would normally be in Girona and racing events such as the Vuelta a la Comunidad Madrid. But after starting the season with the Saudi Tour and a handful of other races, the 29-year-old returned home to renew his visa then fly back to Spain and race until his national championships. That all changed when, two days after toting two huge suitcases back to Europe, the US imposed travel restrictions and his team suggested he might want to head home.

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Laura Weislo
Managing Editor

Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.