Should You Train Like A Professional Cyclist?

Clock00:00, Thursday 6th September 2018

Have you ever wondered how the pros train in order to get into top shape for the big races? Are they doing something different to us mortals and should we copy them? Chris talks you through a normal year for a professional and gives some interesting insights into what makes them so fast.

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Well, to answer this question, you need to look at a full calendar of racing. Some pros will race 60-90 days a year, including one, two or even three grand tours in some cases. Other pros may race a little less, 40-70 days, mainly built up from single day classics or smaller 4-10 day stage races throughout the season. Many riders will compete on flatter less hilly terrain, whilst a large number of riders will compete over incredibly tough mountainous regions. So to answer the question, what do pros do, isn’t actually that straightforward. The answer is they do a wide range of everything, but there is one aspect that all events have in common, the duration is almost always 4-6 hours in length. Or around 180-260 kms.

How much a pro needs to train will be governed somewhat by the phase they are within the season. Whilst races don’t count as training, they do have a training effect on the body. Therefore, during busy periods, a pro may not need to include much extra training at all, with the focus instead being on recovery.

Where do the pros train? Therein lies the beauty of being a bike rider! Within reason, you can train almost anywhere! There will always be specific places that you will sometimes need to head to as a bike rider, maybe an altitude camp, or a recon of the Belgian classics. Perhaps you need flat roads for sprint training or mountainous roads for the grand tours.

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