Movistar Team and CORE warm-up for a new partnership at Vuelta a España

Team Movistar Team welcomes CORE as a new partner commencing with the 2021 Vuelta a España. The Telefónica-backed team have been trialling the CORE Body Temperature sensor and driven by the results from the innovative technology, have committed to using the CORE sensor starting at the Grand Tour in Spain.

The CORE sensor is from Switzerland and is the first wearable device that can continuously deliver medically accurate core body temperature data. Riders can view their own live data on their Garmin bike computers and record it for later analysis together with their coach. 

The head of performance at Team Movistar, Patxi Vila says, “Capturing our riders' temperature gives us a parameter with plenty of information to support our athletes' performance and helps us to determine when we have to stop some training workouts be more encouraging for other workouts”

This is a new parameter for us, we are in the early stages of exploring how we can use these insights. The CORE sensor is an innovative technology that provides a high level of detail in the rider data it captures. We expect that, with time, we will be able to have a better understanding how core body temperature works for our riders.”

Chris Blomfield-Brown, the Performance Manager at CORE says, “We always appreciate having a chance to work with the world's best. Enabling the team to achieve their maximum performance using the data captured from their riders is something that we see as a huge achievement.”

“When Team Movistar Team proposed the collaboration, we didn't hesitate. We're really happy to work together with the riders and coaches and are looking forward to a long and fruitful relationship between Movistar and CORE.”

For sporting performance, the core body temperature is a vital metric because as the body heats, the power output falls. The body then begins to naturally divert blood away from the muscles for power generation, to the skin where sweat evaporation helps to cool the body.

 Athletes can condition themselves with heat acclimation training to improve their heat tolerance and power output when they get hot and employ cooling approaches to stay cooler for longer to preserve their power. Perceived body temperature can vary significantly to the actual core body temperature and accurate monitoring in real-time allows athletes and coaches to gain a precise understanding of the individual thermoregulation and use these insights to maximise athletic performance.

The CORE Body Temperature Monitoring sensor is a compact unit that clips securely onto the heart rate monitor strap, it measures live core body temperature metrics and records data directly onto Garmin devices. CORE is built with an advanced, Swiss-made, thermal energy transfer sensor which provides medical grade accuracy. It is the only wearable solution that allows athletes to capture accurate core body temperature data without the need for an ingested or inserted thermometer.

The CORE technology is made by the Zurich-based greenTEG AG who also supply the medical sector and photonics industry with the thermal energy transfer sensors that are used in CORE.