Heading to Europe to do Haute Route Alps, which kicks off Aug 25th (7 days of climbing, 700km+, 20,000m climbing) and wondering how best to spend the next 5 weeks before taking a rest/taper week.
Have not followed a formal training plan since suspending TR in March/April. I’ve averaged 13/-14hrs/week since June 1 and have worked off of estimated FTP at 280-285W (ish). I’ve tried to do 1-2 threshold workouts/week and managed the following best efforts:
2x20 @ 285-290
3x15 @ 285-290
4x15 @ 285
4x12 @ 290-295 (last night)
Best VO2 was 5x5 @ 330-340, though I’ve only done 2-3 since June.
I can continue to train at 13-15hrs/week until the event. During the week I can do a couple 1:45-2hr rides, and the rest 1-1:30, weekends I have 4-6hrs+ Saturdays and 2-4 Sundays.
I don’t have tons of experience with the length of climbs I’ll encounter and no experience with the altitude. I attended a 6-day California camp in March, and completed 800km, 17,000m climbing and total of 34hrs riding (no rest day). Most of the climbs are a bit shorter (500-700m total elevation), but similar or steeper gradients. Felt great throughout, though I definitely needed rest after!
Fantastic looking route, with some classic climbs that will make it a proper test.
Just consider one, Col de Madeline which is about 17.5km at almost 8% average. Given where it is in the schedule, that climb alone is a couple of hours of solid effort.
For prep, I think long rides outside on the weekends of course, with whatever hills you can find.
I would say that some long tempo / sweetspot workouts would be worth considering. Rides that really push out the TTE.
If you are back on TR, something like Polar Bear and Polar Bear +1 is the sort of thing I would be looking at.
Followed by Glandon, another hour and a half, it’ll be quite the day!
I have at least two 7-8hr rides planned (this Friday and in 2 weeks). Unfortunately, the only elevation I can get is weekends where I average about 100-120m/10km, but most “climbs” are only 1-2 mins.
My thought was to focus on SS work too going forward, as I assume majority of climbing will be spent around 90%.
That’s not a lot of time before the event, but it also looks like you are pretty well rested right now. I’d consider a big push over the next couple weeks and then a quick rest and some taper into the event. A couple days with intervals and then as much volume/climbing you can squeeze in on top of that. I try to max out my fitness and fatigue about a month out from a long event and then back it down to recover and fine tune things.
Here’s my current progression, just wrapped up a big 4 week block last week and now backing things down a bit to be fresh for Leadville on Aug 10th. Still a bit of work to do, but much less weekly volume between now and the race.
It may quite well be especially at altitude, I haven’t tested myself at that power for 1-1.5hrs recently. I’ll switch focus to longer intervals and adjust from there! With the heat we’re getting here, at least heat adaptation shouldn’t be an issue.
I think this is very optimistic considering the length of the climbs. A more realistic number is probably .75 to .8. Even that may be a challenge when fatigue sets in.
Try to get as high CTL as possible the upcoming weeks, while keeping fatigue at a minimum. Imo focus on Z2 and Z3 to push CTL. There’s nothing wrong with one or two Z5 sessions a week, but be mindful that strain increase exponentially with intensity so don’t overdo it.
Totally forgot that I did one SS workout 2 weeks ago, I think I blocked it out completely as I titled it “crushed” . 2x45 @ 280W and 283W, with a 10m recovery (5m easy + 5m stop for water). HR was great in first interval but had crept up to threshold for the last 15m of the second interval. Must have been feeling good that day, even just thinking about that today hurts.
Appreciate all the advice, Z2/Z3 (which is core of what I do today) + SS seems like a sensible approach.
That’s a good idea, thanks.
We’ll see if my competitive stubbornness allows for this
My wife and I will be at Alps this year as well, so looking forward to shoveling pasta with you after each stage. I fell off the training bandwagon the past few months for some life reasons (20+ CTL off peak), so I’m setting my expectations appropriately and planning to just enjoy the experience. Non-training related, but the photo package is worth the expense given the quality on certain days + letting you stay focused on the ride instead of capturing the amazing landscapes.
From doing the shortened 5-day Dolomites last year, my biggest takeaway from a training perspective was the need for fatigued training (i.e., doing the z3-z4 workouts after 2,000 kJs). I live in San Francisco, so the rides that felt the most impactful were 2x or 3x repeats on Mt. Tam (50’ climb half an hour north) with low-mid sweet spot pacing that was consistent across the 3 repeats and finding ways to relax and stretch on the 15-20’ descent.
Dolomites had one day with rolling or false flat timed sections, and the front packs (top 5-10%) largely played out like a road race with VO2 efforts on the punchy shorter climbs. We won’t know for sure until they release the timed sections for Alps, but I’m expecting we’ll have 30’+ non-climbing timed segments on stages 1, 2, 6, and 7. If you’re not trying to kill yourself to stay with the front packs, finding a good group is key. I’m around 65 kg, and it was helpful to find larger riders to do the flatland work + not dropping them on the rollers to keep the group together until a longer climb. From a training perspective, over-unders or sweet spot bursts (15" accelerations every 3-4’ minutes) would be good.
In case you’d find it helpful, here’s my best guess at the routes for this year based on what they’ve released so far:
I’m doing a package through AlpCycles and waiting for my registration code, but I’ll definitely get the photo package if it is offered. I don’t usually even think to pull out the phone and take a picture, plus it never turns out even remotely as good!
I’ve done a little focus on efforts at the end of a long ride, though it’s a good reminder to do more!
We’re the same size - my plan was exactly as you suggest, make sure to stay with a group until the climb, then either find someone to pace, or do my own thing.
I was trying to do the same thing, but stopped after the first three stages! I had the same issue with stage 2, couldn’t find the small lump before the top of Saisies. Thanks for these!
Gpx files have been shared and your routes seem to be pretty accurate. Would have preffered the Col de la Loze climb from Meribel, but otherwise an awesome route. Looking forward to seeing and riding with you (if my 76kg can keep up with you lightweight climber types ;))
Don’t forget heat acclimatation. I just did Mont Ventoux by 30+ celsius, that was brutal. I’m pretty sure that the Alps can get pretty hot too in August.
Nice to meet other cyclists attending this year’s Haute Route Alpes, even though your FTP is higher than mine
Looking forward to have an experience of a lifetime!
Haha, that just means more time to enjoy the gorgeous scenery! Besides, there’ll always be a few folks around you to group up to have fun on the day; definitely my favorite part of HR events.
. 2x45 @ 280W and 283W, with a 10m recovery (5m easy + 5m stop for water). HR was great in first interval but had crept up to threshold for the last 15m of the second interval. Must have been feeling good that day, even just thinking about that today hurts.
I fell off the training bandwagon the past few months for some life reasons (20+ CTL off peak), so I’m setting my expectations appropriately and planning to just enjoy the experience. Non-training related, but the photo package is worth the expense given the quality on certain days + letting you stay focused on the ride instead of capturing the amazing landscapes.