5 day stage race preparation !

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by peterwright
I wanted to ask some training advice... I am just coming to the end of my season at present but have a 5 day multi stage tour at the end of August which will be a huge challenge. (racing as part of a team of 5)

What sort of stuff would u recommend I focus on over the winter and the next 5 months in order to best prepare to last the distance.

I will be playing a domestique roll but want to make sure i get to the finish strongly in order to help team leader.

Any help or advice will be appreciated.

Peter

It would be easier to answere if we knew more about the stages, and about your current fitness level!

cheers and good luck😄

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Karp
It would be easier to answere if we knew more about the stages, and about your current fitness level!

cheers and good luck😄

Ok...point taken.

The race is stages of 130-180km with a couple of TTs. I race in a vets (30-39) league on a weekly basis (the level is generally considered to be one step below the elite riders. Races are generaly around 80-90km.

I would consider my fitness to be good but not for these distances at speed.

Hope this helps.

Peter

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by peterwright
I wanted to ask some training advice... I am just coming to the end of my season at present but have a 5 day multi stage tour at the end of August which will be a huge challenge. (racing as part of a team of 5)

What sort of stuff would u recommend I focus on over the winter and the next 5 months in order to best prepare to last the distance.

I will be playing a domestique roll but want to make sure i get to the finish strongly in order to help team leader.

Any help or advice will be appreciated.

Peter

Hello Peterwright..we corresponded a bit this winter on the subject of powercranks...I have now gotten into my racing season, and have done a few 4 race stage races..to my pleasant surprise, I have had the best legs, endurance, energy, and times ever..I am sure the powercranks have helped..I am finding that doing my hard group training rides, and races on normal cranks, and a few good rides a week on powercranks are helping me in the stage races..also, I am making sure I have a bottle of recovery drink ready at the finish of each stage, and that has helped too....have fun, Bern

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by peterwright
Ok...point taken.

The race is stages of 130-180km with a couple of TTs. I race in a vets (30-39) league on a weekly basis (the level is generally considered to be one step below the elite riders. Races are generaly around 80-90km.

I would consider my fitness to be good but not for these distances at speed.

Hope this helps.

Peter

I think all of us are a bit confused about your description of the stage race. We are looking for details that will tell us what kind of courses you're riding on and etc. IE, course profiles, length of each stage, etc. Be a lot more specific. Do some heavy course recon if it's possible. You will need to train specifically for the course if you're looking to perform strongly. Secondly, find out where you are in terms of strength compared to everyone on the team, if you're last, you may want to consider being the suicide break near the beginning of a specific stage that meets your strength. By suicide break, I mean, you break away knowing that you have no chance of staying away but your job is to control the peloton with that break by forcing them to chase and give your team a quick rest as well or perhaps getting a couple people into your break to help out and keep it away for as long as you can until you and your breakmates have broken legs.

Stage racing is an incredibly delicate and tactical kind of race, much more so than your normal 1-day race.

Thomas Davis

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by tomdavis80
I think all of us are a bit confused about your description of the stage race. We are looking for details that will tell us what kind of courses you're riding on and etc. IE, course profiles, length of each stage, etc. Be a lot more specific. Do some heavy course recon if it's possible. You will need to train specifically for the course if you're looking to perform strongly. Secondly, find out where you are in terms of strength compared to everyone on the team, if you're last, you may want to consider being the suicide break near the beginning of a specific stage that meets your strength. By suicide break, I mean, you break away knowing that you have no chance of staying away but your job is to control the peloton with that break by forcing them to chase and give your team a quick rest as well or perhaps getting a couple people into your break to help out and keep it away for as long as you can until you and your breakmates have broken legs.

Stage racing is an incredibly delicate and tactical kind of race, much more so than your normal 1-day race.

Thomas Davis

Hi Thomas

Thanks for the reply, your comments are noted. I was however not really seeking tactical advice as much as how best to prepare physically for such a demanding race. How best to make the transition from 100km races to 130-150km races on 5 consecutive days.

The course profiles are varied from very hilly to very flat and there are several TT's. I am looking for advice on how to structure my next 15 weeks of training up to the race in order to maximise my ability to ride hard and long with maximum recovery between stages.

Cheers

Peter

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by peterwright
Hi Thomas

Thanks for the reply, your comments are noted. I was however not really seeking tactical advice as much as how best to prepare physically for such a demanding race. How best to make the transition from 100km races to 130-150km races on 5 consecutive days.

The course profiles are varied from very hilly to very flat and there are several TT's. I am looking for advice on how to structure my next 15 weeks of training up to the race in order to maximise my ability to ride hard and long with maximum recovery between stages.

Cheers

Peter

In that case, well, all I can say is that you inevitably will feel overtrained at the end of the race and I'm not sure if you can train specifically for a 5-day stage race and if you can, I'm the wrong person to ask. My best advice would be to find a good coach and have him set up a good training schedule. Best of luck, mate and give them hell!!!

Thomas Davis

Peter, Thomas is right, a coach would probably be very beneficial for you. I will give you a couple of ideas though. (I am a USA Cycling certified coach)

If you're doing very much intensity right now, drop back from most of it and do more base kilometers for the next 3- 4 weeks. If it is practical, you want to have your longest ride be equal to your longest race. Think in terms of hours not distance as your training rides will be much lower in intensity than the race.

At the end of this "base period" you will ease back on the distance and increase the intensity leading up to the race.

If you want to contact me directly you can do so at [email hidden]

Ronnie Kimbrell

I would concur with the advise already given.

From my experience apart from the details about the stages - you need to assess the strengths and weaknesses of your team.
Some people will be good "rouleurs", others will be good climbers.
If you are acting as a domestique, you need to discuss with the rest of your team - the role they expect you to provide for them.
What are your strengths as a cyclist ?
Will your team be expecting you to perform as a climber, when you're possibly more suited to cycling on the flat or vice versa ? (not knowing your background, I cannot give you specific advise).

What I can tell you is that I raced (years ago) in major amateur stage races and a five day event is significantly different to doing one day races (like Tom Davis said).

You need to have a very good level of fitness and be able to cycle
at a minimum of 23mph for up to 4-5 hours.
That is the minimum standard at national level here in Ireland.
Seeing that you are just below elite level (in the UK ???), I suspect that you may have the fitness level required but I cannot be certain.

We currently have the Ras going on here : this race was one of the toughest amateur races in the world.
It has now gone up another notch, now that it is open to professionals (Malcolm Elliot - the former British professional and grand tour rider is racing in this years event).
The average speed is up at around 26-27mph.

Without having specific information about your condition and your team, this is about as much advice as I can give.
if you can pad out some more detail, I will be happy to pass on any advice that I can.