Train Like A Tour de France Cyclist

I’ve heard comments from fellow cyclists over the past couple of weeks that went something like “I wish I could ride half as fast as those guys in the Tour de France — what is their secret?”

My response was “You could — if you trained just half as hard and half as smart as they do.”

Although the cyclists who make it into the ranks of elite professional racers are genetically gifted, their workout regimen is also among the most grueling of all professional sports.

To be competitive at the upper end of professional cycling, these riders must be capable of performing at an almost superhuman level.

They achieve that level by following carefully structured training programs designed to achieve a very high power-to-weight ratio and to maintain a high power output for an extended period of time.

Power in cycling is measured in watts. The average well-trained recreational cyclist may be able to maintain a power output of about three watts per kilogram of body weight for an hour. For a 180-pound rider (81.6kg), that would equate to 245 watts of constant power.

Professional cyclists are able to produce twice that amount of power or more, with the top Tour de France racers being able to produce power outputs close to 6.7 watts per kilogram of body weight for an hour or more on long, steep climbs (450 watts or more for a 150-pound racer).

While recreational cyclists will average 17-18 miles per hour on flat terrain and 9-10 miles per hour up mountain climbs, the pros will use their high power output to scoot down the level roads at 25-28 miles per hour for hours at a time and go up long climbs at 20-plus miles per hour.

How do these professional cyclists develop the ability to produce that much power and achieve that type of power-to-weight ratio?

The answers to those questions (genetics aside) are simple — they follow a structured training plan, ride a lot of miles, minimize body fat and train extremely hard when the plan calls for hard workouts.

Those are things that all of us could do on a “normal cyclist” scale.

Tour de France racers will start their training year by completing what is known as a base phase that consists of riding a lot of miles at an easy to moderate pace while concurrently doing strength workouts and working on weaknesses such as descending or doing time trials.

After developing their endurance base, those cyclists will shift into a build threshold phase that includes doing long intervals at a faster pace, performing hard climbing repeats in the mountains, and racing selected, low-priority events that are used as hard, race-specific workouts.

During the base and threshold phases, they will also pre-ride some or all of the Tour de France stages to ensure they properly prepare for each specific section of the course.

Their workouts during the threshold phase may include multiple 30-60 minute race-pace climbs on steep roads, followed by a fast descent and then another (and another) race-pace ascent of the climb.

They will wrap up their preparation by competing in shorter multiday races to acclimate their bodies to racing hard for multiple consecutive days.

Riding a lot of miles is another characteristic that differentiates pro racers from everyday cyclists. A typical training year for many professional cyclists will include riding 25,000 to 30,000 miles per year with some weeks having 600 or more miles of riding.

Assuming the average pace is in the range of 20-25 miles per hour, that would be 24-30 hours per week in the saddle.

Add in the strength, flexibility and other cross training activities and these athletes may be training for 40-50 hours per week.

Train, eat, sleep, train, eat, sleep.

The net effect of the structured plan, high miles and race-specific workouts is that these professionals arrive at key races with body fat percentages as low as 4-5 percent and with the ability to generate high power outputs for long periods of time, day after day.

So how could a recreational cyclist learn from what these professionals do?

Although most of us have busy lives with jobs, families and other time-consuming responsibilities, we can apply the same general strategies by following a structured plan, increasing the number of miles ridden, improving our power-to-weight ratio and doing the hard, interval workouts.

The pros’ secret is simple — lose excess weight and do the hard work needed to produce a lot of power for long periods of time.

Ride On, San Angelo and remember — if you train half as hard as a Tour de France cyclist, you will get faster.

Bill Cullins is an old cyclist, slow runner and former state Masters cyclocross champion. His column appears every Saturday. Contact him at bcullins@suddenlink.net.

Upcoming events

Aug. 2: Southland Shuffle, roadlizards.org
Aug. 6: Cyclocross workouts begin, Middle Concho Park
Aug. 10: San Angelo Olympic and sprint distance triathlon, Spring Creek Park, roadlizards.org
Aug. 13: Run to Remember