Training Center: This month, train like you’re racing the Tour

BOULDER, Colo (VN) — You may not be able to race the Tour de France, but you can simulate it at home. FasCat Coaching has prepared its second annual Tour de France training calendar that mimics (albeit on a smaller scale) the physiological demands of this year’s second grand tour.

For the next three weeks we have designed workouts for sprinting, climbing and time trialing just like the stages in the Tour each day. See what it’s like for your favorite riders to race back-to-back days in the Alps, including two days on the Tour’s highest finish, the Galibier, as you tackle multiple days of threshold intervals on your local roads.

Can you ride for 21 stages with only two rest days? It will be an exciting challenge and completing your own Tour will make you a stronger rider and be a great mid-summer accomplishment.

To download your three-week, Tour De France training plan, go to the FasCat site.

Calendar Explanation:

The Tour De France training calendar is set up to mimic the physiological demands of the terrain of the 2011 Tour through intervals of varying intensities and durations. For example, the early VO2 max workout will simulate the short, steep climbs in Vendee and Brittany. In the Tour, the riders will be going over these climbs at a maximal aerobic effort. During the longer mountain stages in the Pyrenees and the Alps, the intervals on the calendar are in the medium to hard range. On multiple-categorized climb days, the GC favorites will ride just below their threshold (tempo and sweetspot) on the first climbs, then go full-gas (FG! on the calendar, basically as hard as you can go) threshold on the final climbs, where the race is decided. For general classification riders, the flat days between mountain stages are often used for recovery (barring crosswinds). Therefore, if you are going for the GC, treat these transition stages as endurance and recovery days. Conversely if you are going for stages, choose a stage or two that suits your strengths and let it all hang out. For a visual elevation profile of each stage, check out the profiles on VeloNews.com.

The calendar shows the finishing city of each stage next to the date. On your training rides, try to mimic the stage as much as possible. Obviously, if you live in Florida or Texas, finding alpine climbs is impossible. You can still obtain the physiological benefit of Zone 4 training by power output, heart rate or by good old fashioned ‘feel’ and rate of perceived exertion. Watch the Tour live in the morning for inspiration then head out after work for our own Tour stage workout. Don’t worry if you are short on time; follow the structure of the intervals for a condensed real world version. If you can ride long on the weekends go for it!

Overall, it’s a lot of riding. Understandably, work, family, and other commitments can make completing every workout a challenge. Even if you can only ride for one hour, perform the intervals and try to balance out your time so that you can consistently ride each stage. It’s better to ride for one hour each day rather than three hours but only one day a week. Set a personal goal for your own Tour, because improving as a cyclist is all about setting goals and working towards them. Following this Tour de France training plan will give you a goal to accomplish for July and some insight into what it’s like to ride the Tour de France.

Matt Rossman is a category 2 cyclist and USA Cycling certified coach working for FasCat Coaching. He can be reached at mattr@fascatcoaching.com or found riding around like he’s in France.

FILED UNDER: News / Tour de France / Training Center TAGS: Matt Rossman