Most top tier pro cyclists clock 25000-35000 miles a year on their bikes, and race 80-140 days a year. Other than that, the job is mainly sitting around recovering. Although cycling is an incredibly complex sport, on the level of gridiron football or basketball in terms of the number of calculations that have to be made as part of tactical decisions, the longer-term playout of actions (at least in long road races) means that riders and their sporting directors (think coaches) have time to think about their decisions, and that combined with how much of racing is done on feel means there isn't the same need for things like film study and in-depth tactical coaching on a daily basis.

Athletes have a lot of what might be called downtime in their schedule, but very little actual free time. downtime is a part of training, a good nap schedule and staying well rested between training sessions and races is very important. You can't just go off and pedal a helicopter because you've got a couple hours free.