Tour de France Road Cycling Training Guide: Everything you need to know to ride like the professionals

by Paul Knott

Overview

The Official Tour de France Road Cycling Training Guide taps into the minds of riders, coaches and experts who have raced the Tour first hand.

This insightful handbook gives amateur cyclists the insider knowledge on how to adapt their training, nutrition and mental preparation for potentially their toughest day out on a bike. Alongside lifelong advice to improve your cycling performance, the book gives structured guidance on how to plan your season, incorporating some of the key training and nutrition strategies adopted by professional cyclists. This also includes unlocking and decoding training data, which has become a key aspect of cycling training, as well as breaking down the psychological barriers that can hold some cyclists back.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787397514
Publisher:	Welbeck Publishing
Publication date:	05/04/2021
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	1,019,757
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Paul Knott is a cycling journalist, who has worked across Cycling Weekly's digital, video and magazine portfolio - specialising in fitness and racing news. This has led to him covering some of the biggest races on the cycling calendar including Paris-Roubaix, Criterium du Dauphine and the Tour de France. As a keen cyclist himself, he has ridden many of the iconic climbs in the alps, Pyrenees and Vosges mountains as well as completing the legendary La Marmotte Granfondo.

Table of Contents

Introduction 6

Chapter 1 Planning Your Training

Goal setting 12

Yearly planning 14

Structuring your training week 16

Fitness testing 18

Chapter 2 Types of Training

Endurance rides 22

Turbo training 24

Interval training 26

Cadence 28

Chapter 3 Bike Fitting

Why, where, how? 32

Injury prevention 34

Saddle height and specification 36

Cleats 38

Chapter 4 Nutrition

Breakfast - the fuel to every cyclist's ride 42

On-the-bike fuelling 44

Hydration 46

Recovery meals 48

Chapter 5 Deciphering Data

What, which, how? 52

Making it work for you 54

The future of data and technology 56

Chapter 6 Riding Efficiently

Drafting 60

Braking 62

Descending at home and in the mountains 64

The importance of aerodynamics 66

Chapter 7 Words of Wisdom

Matt Winston, Team Sunweb coach 70

Koen Pelgrim, Deuceunink Quick-Step coach 72

Alan Murchison, British Cycling chef 74

Lisa Nijbroek, Team Sunweb Nutritionist 76

Chapter 8 Bike Handling

Etiquette and safety 80

Gearing 82

On-bike skills 84

Chapter 9 Rest and Recovery

Avoiding injury 88

Measuring fatigue 90

Post-ride diet 92

Cool-down techniques 94

Active recovery 96

Sleep 98

Chapter 10 Off-The-Bike Training

Weight training 102

Cross training 104

Yoga and Pilates 106

Chapter 11 How the Pros Prepare

The team behind the team 110

Week in training, Mitchell Docker, EF Pro Cycling 112

Diet in a day, Adam Hansen, Lotto Soudal 114

The importance of power to weight ratio 116

Chapter 12 Training Tools

Power meters 120

Heart rate monitors 122

Training zones 124

Chapter 13 Training Programmes

Mixed training week 128

Sprinting focus 130

Cadence focus 132

FTP testing week 134

Drop-down week 136

Endurance focus 138

Peak performance 140

Event week taper 142

Chapter 14 Psychology

Achieving the incredible 146

Conquering the climbs 148

Daring descents 150

Chapter 15 Climbs of the Tour

Riding in the Pyrenees 154

Luz Ardiden 158

Col du Tourmalet 160

Col d'Aubisque 162

Col d'Aspin 164

Riding in the Alps 166

Col d'Izoard 170

Col du Galibier 172

Alpe d'Huez 174

Mont Ventoux 176

Riding in the Vosges 178

Planche des Belles Filles 182

Chapter 16 Training Camps

Making training camps work for you 186

Majorca and Calpe 188

Girona and the home of the pros 190

Tenerife, Teide and altitude 192

Chapter 17 Taking on the Étape

Preparing for the Étape du Tour 196

Event day 198

Summary: Get out there and ride 202

Index 204

Credits 208