What are Marginal Gains (in Cycling)?

In the 2012 Olympic Games the British National cycling team made history by cleaning up in a number of categories compared to their dismal performances in the previous Olympic Games. They attributed their success to the use of marginal gains; where they made micro improvements in wide swathes of categories of variables across the cycling discipline. These micro improvements eventually added up to major improvements given their breadth in nature.

For example, the team instituted an intense hand-washing regime to reduce the risk of riders getting ill at or before major events. They’d also bring rider’s pillows with them to accommodations to reduce the risk of poor sleep the night before a key event.

The marginal gains mindset caught on and other teams realized that by re-evaluating each of their processes they could perform dramatically better. One of these processes was training. If a rider could get two percent better by cycling at altitude for two weeks before a major race they’d take riders to altitude. If a rider could get better by ingesting carbs during training, they’d get their riders ingesting carbs during training. Coaches old fashioned approaches to training needed a stimulus to shock them into re-evaluating their processes. Marginal gains was the catalyst that changed the training landscape.