So for those tempted to head off-road in the winter months, what training sessions should you be looking for?

Field believes the principles are simple, saying: “You break down what you do in a race and work on it basically.

“I do a warm-up, which will just be riding up into the woods or riding to the ‘cross sessions I do in Yorkshire and then, first of all, just start with the starts – probably eight starts of 200-300 metres.

“It works out as maybe a 15-second effort but you are including clipping in and getting away within that. From there it’s working in a lot of intervals within a specific circuit.

“There will be a short circuit with a bank where you have to get off and run and then three ten-minute race efforts within that.

“It’s important to be at race pace because it’s one thing trying to do your technical skills while your breathing through your nose but it’s another thing entirely when you’re heart rate is at 180.

“It’s important to do the intervals off-road, incorporated with your skill sessions, just to try and be good at those skills when you’re under pressure.

“I really don’t do many miles, even in the summer. It’s all three or four hours max. The races are only an hour long for me, and I’ve never been beaten because I couldn’t do an hour. During the season I will be training for an hour-and-a-half a day but nothing more.”