About CycleCoach
Led by Ric Stern — creator of the MAP test and coach to world, national and Paralympic champions — CycleCoach offers evidence-based, personalised coaching built on 43 consecutive race seasons and coaching experience dating back to 1997.
Who We Are
Decades of Coaching, Built on Science and Real Racing
CycleCoach is built around one idea: training should be grounded in evidence, adapted to the individual, and judged by what it delivers in the real world. Ric Stern has been coaching cyclists professionally since 1997 and is now in his 43rd consecutive race season. That long view matters. It means the work is not based on hype, trends, or whatever is fashionable this year, but on decades of testing, coaching, racing, and refining what actually works.
Achievements That Speak for Themselves
Our coaching legacy includes:
- World Championship gold medallists
- Commonwealth Games medallists
- Paralympic medallists
- National Champions across multiple cycling disciplines
- Tour de France riders
- The two-time winner of the Transcontinental Race
Success Across the Spectrum
We have worked with athletes ranging from ambitious club riders and masters racers through to world-class performers such as Michael Freiberg, James Hayden, Barney Storey and Colin Lynch. The same principles apply throughout: understand the rider, understand the demands of the event, and build training that is both physiologically sound and practically sustainable.
Innovation, Depth and Individualisation
Ric developed the MAP test protocol in the 1990s, and versions of that ramp-based approach are now used on platforms such as Zwift, Rouvy and MyWhoosh. His coaching is power-based and evidence-led, but never formulaic. With a First-Class BSc (Hons) in Sports Science, peer-reviewed published research, decades of power-data analysis, and deep practical coaching experience, the goal is always the same: help each athlete train more intelligently, improve more consistently, and perform better for longer.
Meet Our Coaches
Ric Stern
Founder & Head Coach
Elite · Paralympic · Masters · All Disciplines
Creator of the MAP test, coach since 1997, and still racing in his 43rd consecutive season — blending science, power analysis and real-world experience across every level of the sport.
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Neil Kent
Endurance Coach
Road · Gran Fondo · Multi-sport
Endurance specialist with a Masters in Sport & Exercise Science, based in Tuscany and focused on long-distance road and multi-sport athletes.
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Charlotte Farrant
Endurance Coach
Triathlon · Cycling · Ultra Racing
NCCP Certified Triathlon Canada Competition Coach and Sports Performance Nutrition Specialist with experience from Gran Fondos to Ironman World Championships.
View Full Profile →Ric Stern – Founder & Head Coach
BSc (Hons) Sports Science · 43 Consecutive Race Seasons · Creator of the MAP Test · Peer-Reviewed Published Research · Elite & Paralympic Champion Coach
Ric Stern has been coaching cyclists professionally since 1997 and is one of the longest-running cycling coaches in the world still actively racing. His work has supported everyone from ambitious club riders and masters athletes to world champions, Paralympic medallists, national champions, Tour de France riders, and the two-time winner of the Transcontinental Race.
His coaching philosophy is evidence-based, power-led, and athlete-first. That means using physiology, performance data, training history, recovery capacity and event demands to build training that fits the individual — not forcing riders into generic plans or fashionable systems that ignore the realities of real life.
Ric developed the MAP test protocol in the 1990s, a ramp-based approach used to estimate threshold and structure training zones. Variations of that protocol are now used by platforms such as Zwift, Rouvy and MyWhoosh, and his work has also been published in peer-reviewed exercise science research.
What sets Ric apart is not just longevity, but depth. His background combines sports science, decades of power-meter analysis, and an unusually detailed understanding of physiology applied to real athletes. He is still testing, still racing, still learning, and still refining the methods he uses with riders at every level.
Now in his late 50s, Ric remains physiologically slightly stronger than he was in his mid-20s as a Cat 1 rider. That is not a marketing line — it reflects decades of getting the training right, and it is part of the reason so many athletes come to CycleCoach not just for sessions, but for understanding.
Neil Kent – Endurance Coach
Masters in Sport & Exercise Science · Based in Tuscany, Italy
Neil is an endurance specialist with a Masters degree in Sport and Exercise Science and years of racing experience across road, multi-sport and long-distance Gran Fondo events. He has coached a diverse range of athletes — from first-time Ironman 70.3 qualifiers to riders preparing for European Gran Fondos, national-level road races and local criteriums.
Based in Tuscany, near the legendary Monte Serra climb, Neil trains and coaches in the same terrain used by WorldTour professionals. His own background in road racing and high-volume endurance work gives him a practical understanding of what it takes to prepare for long, demanding events.
Neil's coaching style is methodical, grounded in physiology, and centred on the individual. He blends scientific principles with real-world experience to build sustainable progress — whether an athlete is chasing a Gran Fondo PB, targeting a 70.3 World Champs slot, or training for better fitness and confidence on the bike.
He has extensive experience working with cyclists, triathletes, time-crunched professionals, and athletes balancing training around busy lives. Neil is known for clear communication, realistic planning and helping athletes make consistent, meaningful gains.
Charlotte Farrant – Endurance Coach
NCCP Certified Triathlon Canada Competition Coach · Certified Sports Performance Nutrition Specialist · Based in Alberta, Canada
Charlotte has coached athletes at all levels, from their first Gran Fondo to qualifying for the Ironman World Championships. As a high-performance NCCP Triathlon Canada Certified Competition Coach and Certified Sports Performance Nutrition Specialist, she blends endurance and fuelling expertise to unlock an athlete's full potential.
Based in Canada, she has extensive experience training and racing through extreme landscapes and weather conditions. This experience brings creativity to designing training programs that are adaptive, time-efficient and laser-focused on maximizing the gains required to excel at the demands of specific racing events.
With personal achievements across cycling, ultra racing, and the Ironman World Championships, Charlotte understands the balance between life's demands and the unique challenges necessary to achieve high-performance when chasing bold and daring goals.
Charlotte works primarily with triathletes, cyclists, and ultra-endurance athletes who need structured, efficient training that fits around busy schedules. Her approach combines physiological science with practical nutrition guidance to help athletes perform at their best when it matters most.