Yeah I am happy not to be expecting to compete at the front. The level of preparation (e.g. training, nutrition) and investment in the bike is next level. Looking at Jasper’s numbers he is often climbing near 4.5 w/kg at elevation. That is massive on repeated long climbs like that.
On Wednesday I finished my own 4 day training camp. Tried to implement block periodisation by doing a big vo2 max workout on day 1, long (30-40 minutes) sweetspot intervals on day 2, threshold (4x10) on day 3 and an empty tank 8 hour ride on day 4. Really happy with the numbers, repeatability and recovery from day to day. For the week after finishing this block I am keeping up volume but exclude intensity (apart from a couple of short tempo efforts). Curious to see how the feeling and numbers will be in two weeks. Will decide my pacing plan quite close to the event. With all the neutralized segments I might go a bit harder on the climbs.
Great job, that’s quite a big block. I feel like the most important part of the month before the event is to build the mental durability and well of confidence that you’ll need to draw from at the end of some of those longer climbs. It sounds like you’ve got that dialed from this week.
For me, the hardest part has been finding time and space to finish the preparation while balancing work stressors. Wrapping things up and delegating to my team pre-vacation has been increasing my work stress score (WSS) enough that I’m just accepting what my brain will give me for the day. So the classic “I need a vacation from preparing for my vacation” syndrome. Very impressed that you’ve been able to carve out the time and space for a training camp!
For the taper, I’ve only been doing ~10 hours a week, so there’s not much volume to reduce. I’ll likely stick with a healthy amount of intensity with an extra rest day or two. Zone 2 will be reserved for heat training or rolling around with friends. Any reason why you’re going against the usual taper guidance of cutting volume + maintaining intensity?
My volume has averaged around 13hrs, which I started to cut after Monday’s ride. I’ve done two easy 1hr Z2 rides. I had intervals planned for yesterday, but between horrible weather outside and being absolutely mentally destroyed after work, I decided to push the ride today. Focus for next two weeks will be 2-3 weekly interval sessions (threshold/VO2) and whatever Z2 I squeeze in. Will have to take 21/22nd off completely for travel, and do some spins/openers on the 23/24th once I get there.
I had an intense week, with a Tue/Thu threshold session, leading into a 400TSS day on Saturday, with most intensity happening in the last 4hrs of a 7hr day. I was definitely fatigued going into Saturday, which didn’t feel great but was the point. After taking Sunday off, the legs felt heavy to start Monday’s 4x10 threshold sessions, but managed to get steady power numbers and finally felt like I was “ready”. Then felt like I got crushed
I felt that I may be starting to ramp down volume a bit earlier than needed (almost 3 weeks out), but couldn’t keep pushing, mentally/physically and from timing perspective. I don’t feel it’ll make much difference in the end, so long as I keep riding the fitness isn’t going anywhere. Unfortunately the weather decided to take a turn, it dropped to 50-60F this week. Looks to be going back up to high 70s/low 80s again, so I’ll try to time my rides with the heat to keep adaptations going. Evenings are usually my go-to time, but it quickly cools off after 5-6pm!
Yeah, combining training other life stressors is something I found out the hard way two years ago when prepping for the Dolomites. This year I managed to plan better (more time of work, shorter family holiday, more help with childcare) to get some big weeks in. From experience I can say you are right not to run yourself into the ground a couple of weeks before the event.
@llomqm I am doing a one week taper in the week leading up to the event. There I will use the traditional approach of maintaining intensity but reducing volume. This week is more like a recovery week with decent volume after my recent block with lots of intensity.
Are you arriving the day before the event or earlier? I am planning to take some rest at home and do some shorter rides in Megeve the two days before the event.
I land in Geneva on the 23rd and should be in Megeve by 3-4pm. I’ll be looking to build my bike and go for a 1-1.5hr ride. There is a group of 4 of us coming in, so hopefully we can get sorted quickly, though experience tells me we won’t be ready to ride until 7pm! I’m guessing the tour company will want to organize a shake-out ride, though I prefer to go my own pace.
We’re arriving in Geneva on the night of the 22nd and will be on the 5 PM shuttle to Megeve on the 23rd (day before registration). Our plan is to build bikes on the evening of the 23rd and have a relaxed registration day with a short shake-out ride in Megeve (might do the official ambassador ride just for the vibes).
Looks like a little rain, nothing too bad, and still relatively warm. Hot couple days leading up to it, should get us prepped pretty well. I’m flying out tomorrow, good luck and see you out there!
It would be amazing if you guys could do some type of race report after this. Some of your training history and thoughts on the event. Been following the thread and your last weeks discussion. Its been great motivation. Good luck on the event!
Good idea, I’ll try to post some thoughts after each day!
Not much to speak of on the training front as it was fairly unstructured. I rode 6 days/week averaging 13-14hrs/week and 8-10k kJs/week. Lots of Z2, the odd group ride, a 6-7hr day every 2-3 weeks. I knew my main limiter in the past was volume, usually averaging no more than 10hrs, so I worked on increasing it. CTL in the 90s for last 2 months, peaking at 97. No clue on FTP progress, never bothered to re-test. I changed PMs earlier this year (single 4iiii → Assioma duo), and still manage to set power PRs even though Assiomas read ~5% lower, so something must be working
Arrived in Megeve yesterday, no travel issues thankfully. Set up and went for a quick ride up to Altiport (airport), which is the latter half of the last day 1 climb. Added a 6-7 minute effort at threshold to see how legs held up - no real issues, though a bit sleepy after 3 days off bike and very little sleep in transit.
Another ride this morning, preceded by a bit too much coffee. Checked out the neutral start plus first part of the climb. Legs felt good but HR seemed higher, likely due to lack of sleep/travel, coffee and altitude. A little hesitant on the descents as I haven’t had a chance to ride months, but that’ll sort itself out throughout the day.
First of all, good lood luck tomorrow! Luckily the weather doesnt seem as bad as predicted the last few days. We went up to the Altiport on Friday. A useful recon as the climb is quitte irregular. Today we did the first 10km of neutralization for stage 1 and most of Col de Saises of stage 2. A really steady climb that never forces you to go over your limits. A bit worried about the neutralized part tomorrow though. Generally a shallow descent but also couple of short ramps upwards where the group could break. Will try to hold a position with the first 30 to 40 riders, but I expect most will want to that on the first day.
Good news is that legs felt good. RPE and heart rate at the levels I expected given I was riding low tempo up the climbs. Weight was as hoped before I left for the Alps. Slept well after the transfer and think I got in a decent amount of carbs during today. Got the bike checked by Mavic and two issues sorted (brakes and rear derailleur) that occured after being in the bike bag. Looking forward to getting started after months of preparation.
good luck today! Looks like it’ll be a wet start, so hoping this neutral section isn’t too sketchy.
My wife came down with a stomach bug early Friday, and we ended up on the Haute Route shuttle bus that had a flat tire on the way to Megeve. Not the most fortituous start to the week. She was able to keep some apple sauce down yesterday and has been getting electrolytes in, so she’s going to limp through today so she can stay in the GC. Very thankful that it’s cooled down to more what were used to back home, which will help with any dehydration she still has.
Good luck today! Roads are sounding wet and I can only assume slick. Stay safe on the neutral and that first little descent up Aravis, the rest should be fine!
Hope your wife is feeling better, the event is hard enough without being sick.
First day went well here (bib 175). Achieved my first mini goal by staying with the first group until halfway up the first climb (where it got steep). Did my own pace the rest of climbs. However, the effort felt way higher than it should have been considering the power I was putting out. Found out at the top of the second climb my PM needed a calibration, and got good data out of the last climb (a hard sweet spot effort). Just fell short of my second mini goal of starting in the front box (27th in combined GC’s, 22nd for the 7 day event). New chance tomorrow!
Maybe I should calibrate my PM too, see if it’ll give me free watts
Great day out there today. Start wasn’t too terribly cold or sketchy all things considered. I hit the climb pretty far back which was OK by me. Held just shy of my target pace and got the time I wanted, legs were feeling great. Got a little nippy on the way down. Stayed cautious and kept the speed down on the descents, didn’t see any use in going fast.
Pulled back the power on Colombiere a little bit, and lost a handful of spots. No big deal though, it was my biggest continuous climb, so wanted to make sure I survive. Took a bit of a break at the top and headed down with a few guys from my tour group.
Again kept the speed civilized, the cold and fog made it pretty sketchy. A couple riders just ahead of us unfortunately went off the road and ended up with broken collar bones. A rider that was with them said they picked up speed, saw the bridge and turn too late, locked up their brakes and went down. We saw the carnage and the ambulances on their way which reinforced the need to be mindful on the untimed descents.
Got into sizeable group during the neutral and sat in the whole time. Group got excited for that kicker and decided to climb at 5wkg, which I didn’t even bother with stopped for a pee at the bottom and settled in for the rest of the day.
Was absolutely taken by surprise by the gradients early on, did not expect to see double digits…. Stayed on the pedals as best as I could manage, passed a few people, got passed by a few, and made my way to the end. Managed 56th on the day, which was a bit higher than I hoped for, but it is a long way to Nice. Ate, ate some more, napped and now chilling before dinner.
Tomorrow looks brutal, the timed section is far too long! Loze looks to be a beast. One bit at a time though!
My wife unfortunately had to withdraw at the top of the Colombiere because the lack of calories over the past 48 hours was too much to overcome. She was well ahead of the time cut, but there was no amount of waiting that was going to help. Game time decision on whether she’s been able to eat enough today to just roll tomorrow easy.
Pretty steady day for me today doing high tempo on most climbs. The Colombiere was fairly scenic given the weather, and even the descent was a fun one despite the persistent fog.
43rd on GC as bib 198, but we’ll see how things go given that there’s been a bit more off the bike stress than anticipated. Regardless, glad that we’re here and able to ride such great climbs.
stopped for a pee at the bottom and settled in for the rest of the day.