{"id":232832,"date":"2026-03-12T11:30:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T11:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/a-i-get-off-of-my-cloud\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T11:30:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T11:30:24","slug":"a-i-get-off-of-my-cloud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/a-i-get-off-of-my-cloud\/","title":{"rendered":"A\u2026 I\u2026 Get Off Of My Cloud"},"content":{"rendered":"

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AI. It stands for \u201cArtificial Intelligence,\u201d and everybody\u2019s talking about it. AI is poised to completely alter the way we think, live, breathe, knit baby booties, teach ourselves to juggle, and subtly manipulate our loved ones by microdosing them with guilt. It\u2019s also coming to pro cycling to tell the riders what to do<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Okay, AI is one thing, but I was fascinated to learn that Richard Plugge, manager of Team Visma-Lease a Bike, singlehandedly (singlefistedly?) introduced pro cycling to the fist bump:<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou know, I\u2019m used to getting laughed at by people. I always laugh last,\u201d says Richard Plugge, general manager of Team Visma-Lease a Bike.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen it many times that a few years later, or even a few months later, people are adapting the same things we do. I\u2019ll give you one example: we don\u2019t shake hands anymore in the Tour de France. We fist bump. When we started that, people were saying: \u2018Haha, they\u2019re crazy. But now everyone is doing it.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Though evidence shows fist-bumping in the Tour de France at least as far back as 2013:<\/p>\n

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Were you manager of BMC in 2013? Were you<\/em>? Explain that<\/em> one, Plugge!<\/p>\n

Next you\u2019ll claim you invented the Glasses Wipe:<\/p>\n

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Or the Package Presentation:<\/p>\n

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Or the Phone Call-Nipple Twiddle:<\/p>\n

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But that was all Cav, baby<\/a>. All Cav.<\/p>\n

Though now that I think about it, maybe teams should use AI to devise creative new victory salutes. Let\u2019s give it a shot, shall we?<\/p>\n

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Oy. The prompt was \u201cA pro cyclist winning a bicycle race and doing a creative and entertaining victory salute,\u201d but there\u2019s nothing particularly creative or entertaining about that one. By the way, it looks like AI-generated pro cyclist Marty Geka is wearing a Livestrong bracelet on his left wrist; either that or he was out parting the night before \u00e0 la<\/em> Jaques Anquetil and forgot to cut off the little bracelet that tells the bartender he\u2019s old enough to drink.<\/p>\n

As for team managers using AI for other stuff besides victory salutes, I\u2019m not laughing, because it\u2019s probably a very good idea. In fact I happened to be reading this story<\/a> recently, which shows the pitfalls of relying on a human to figure stuff out:<\/p>\n

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Wow. How does the USA lose at baseball to Italy? That\u2019s like Italy losing to the USA in eating really good cuisine and not working that hard.<\/p>\n

And yes, I realize the Italian baseball team is basically a bunch of Americans with Italian last names, but don\u2019t overthink it.<\/p>\n

As for cycling, they\u2019ll use AI to determine race tactics, which means directeur sportifs<\/em> will soon be able to sit back in self-driving team cars and let the computers do all the work. This is especially bad news for the French, because an AI tactician could potentially spell the end for doomed Bastille Day solo breakwaways:<\/p>\n

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Examples include establishing whether to join a certain breakaway break, when to attempt to form echelons and split the peloton in crosswinds, or optimising the perfect timing for an attack.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou could attack 80km before the finish line, be on the screen and ahead of the game for the next 10km, and even if you don\u2019t win, everybody will say: \u2018Oh, you did a great race.\u2019 But was it really worth it?<\/em><\/p>\n

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Then again, maybe the AI is programmed to factor in sponsor exposure, and it will run a cost-benefit analysis of some guy you never heard of riding off the front for three hours, getting caught, and being spit out the back like yesterday\u2019s Croque Monsieur<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Of course, amateur racers always copy the pros, so I\u2019m tempted to say that soon they\u2019ll all be riding with AI earpieces. However, I\u2019m not sure the technology will carry over in this case, since 95% of Cat 4 races end in a bunch sprint where half the field proceeds to crash. Therefore, any AI worth the subscriber fee is just going to tell you it\u2019s not worth it before you can even get your bib short straps over your shoulder, and what amateur racer is going to pay good money to spoil the delusion?<\/p>\n

Though apparently they\u2019re already using it to train<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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It sounds quite useful, too:<\/p>\n

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AI training apps, powered by large language models (LLMs) or machine learning algorithms, process data from your wearable devices \u2013 heart rate, sleep, power output, HRV \u2013 to generate personalised training plans. The theory is that these models, trained on vast datasets, can spot patterns and adjust your workouts accordingly. So, if your sleep is poor and your heart rate variability drops, the AI might downgrade your session to something easier.<\/em><\/p>\n

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So it can tell you you\u2019re tired. Amazing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also available to tell you that you suck 24 hours a day:<\/p>\n

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Apps like Vekta hope to offer something coaches can\u2019t: 24\/7 availability. The platform will soon go a step further, introducing \u2018Vekta Agent\u2019 \u2013 an AI assistant to whom athletes can ask questions about their own data, such as those surrounding\u00a0sleep quality\u00a0or\u00a0carbohydrate intake. The vision is a round-the-clock partnership, the human coach and the AI assistant working in tandem.<\/em><\/p>\n

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If your sleep quality is poor here\u2019s a tip: stop calling your coach in the middle of the night with questions about your carbohydrate intake.<\/p>\n

Still, your friendly neighborhood coach would like to remind you that you should continue paying a human anyway:<\/p>\n

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\u201cRecreational cyclists risk becoming too reliant on AI, potentially ignoring their body\u2019s feelings,\u201d he says. \u201cOver-dependence on tech can overshadow internal cues, intuitive training, and body awareness. While AI offers valuable guidance, a balance is crucial.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Yep, actual coaches are about to become the rim brake of training:<\/p>\n

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[But can AI scream at you to ride faster?]<\/p>\n

So much for that.<\/p>\n

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AI. It stands for \u201cArtificial Intelligence,\u201d and everybody\u2019s talking about it. AI is poised to completely alter the way we think, live, breathe, knit baby booties, teach ourselves to juggle, and subtly manipulate our loved ones by microdosing them with guilt. It\u2019s also coming to pro cycling to tell the riders what to do: Okay, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":232833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6804],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-232832","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}