FEATURE
TrainingPeaks is their primary source of income. Most coaches on the platform are paid primarily through the TrainingPeaks platform, and this acquisition was a harsh reminder that TrainingPeaks is more than just a software tool that they use; it’s the client acquisition machine, the actual programming platform, and the payment platform that they rely on—yet they have no say in its future. Because it’s unclear what Garmin’s
intentions for the platform are, coaches have to ask themselves: What would I do if it were to disappear tomorrow, swallowed up by Connect+? What if Garmin takes what it wants—athlete data, trademarked terms, or a certain chunk of the company, like the virtual cycling platform—and the rest of the software is left untouched but sans tech support or updates? TrainingPeaks has been the leader for endurance coaches because of the fact that it so rarely changes. The user interface looks almost the same today as it did back in 2007, and that simplicity has kept coaches on the platform, unwilling to make a switch and have to learn something new. That thought is scary for coaches, but for software
developers who’ve come into the coach/athlete connection space in recent years, the announcement from Garmin was a surprise, but one that’s been welcome, since it’s led to a surge of new inquiries as coaches look to essentially future-proof their businesses, checking for alternatives in case there’s a reason to suddenly switch—and in some cases, reluctantly getting on board with AI. “It was a surprise, but it made sense,” says Fabienne Maya,
co-founder of Augo. “We saw Strava get into coaching when they acquired Runna.” She believes that the acquisition was less about the training platform and more about the name: TrainingPeaks has decades of trust between coaches and athletes, and that’s invaluable. “You cannot build 20 years of training data, and you cannot code relationships.” Neither Augo nor Vekta’s founders believe that Garmin will
try to cut off other hardware from TrainingPeaks, nor do they believe a price increase in the near future is looming. But they do agree that change will be coming in some form. Part of that, though, is simply the shifting landscape of how coaching looks. TrainingPeaks has long relied on training plans as one of
its key products in addition to coaches. Now, thanks to paid and free AI platforms, personalised training plans are a dime a dozen. Both Augo and Vekta’s cofounders believe that the future of virtual coaching is likely to be sharply divided into free and full-price: Those who don’t have the spare cash will use the free plans that AI dreams up or that fitness magazines and websites continue to publish. Those who do have cash
www.bikebiz.com Working in the Training Peaks platform
or have big goals will still opt for a human coach over an AI model, or—if apps like Augo have a say in things—a coach who uses AI as a tool to harness data in order to give the athlete more of their time and attention rather than wasting time searching for a certain metric or workout in a vast library. And that’s the promise of many of the new tools being designed for coach/athlete connection. “We want to build the intelligence layer for human coaches,
to bring them to the next level in terms of coaching and make them competitive in the age of AI,” explains Maya. “We’re combining AI workflows together with a coach’s human empathy and judgment.” Similarly, Vekta is a training and coaching platform for
endurance coaches and athletes, made using current technology and built with AI in the background. Unlike TrainingPeaks, Vekta uses Critical Power, Watt Prime and durability rather than TrainingPeaks FTP and TSS. It’s being used by some of the top teams in pro cycling, and Girard believes that they’ve shifted to Vekta because “AI unlocks lots of new things about performance modelling, about predicting the outcome of races, and predicting the development path of an athlete.” Ultimately, Garmin will remain what it is: A hardware
platform that’s continuing to up its software game. WhetherTraining Peaks looks the same as it does today in five years is certainly a major question, and that fact alone opens doors to smaller startups like Vekta and Augo, who see the acquisition as an opportunity. With coaches around the world girding their loins and waiting to hear what Garmin has planned for TrainingPeaks, these companies are reimagining the coach/athlete virtual relationship and see this acquisition as a great time to open a conversation with longtime TrainingPeaks coaches. ●
September 2026 | 15
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