So you have a new setup, you’ve trained off the bike, your strength is good, your pedaling is going well – then you buy a new bike.

Every bike is different, of course, and Burts says it’s important to factor that in to your fit.

“What I’ve noticed is that there is a great propensity for people to switch bikes and try to adopt the exact same position,” he explains, “but because the handling is different, or the geometry, it just doesn’t feel the same to them.

“We have had a lot of guys come to Team Sky and you try to put them on a Pinarello in their ‘usual’ position and they just don’t like it, they say it feels very different.

“There’s the story I recount in my book of Ben Swift, bringing all four road bikes in and telling me one was the wrong height. When I measured them, they were all the same but one saddle was new – it’s great that he noticed that, but it shows how some people can be affected.

“Switching from one bike to the other can cause problems in that respect and I would advise people who are often changing need a good bike fitter.

“The fitter can look at not just the new bike but the body as well and identify changes and areas that could cause a problem across a number of bikes.”

Phil Burt will be speaking at the London Sports Writing Festival as part of ‘Cycling Sunday’ on October 26. More information, day passes and tickets for individual talks – which include Nicole Cooke, Emma O’Reilly and Christophe Bassons – are available here.