Seven steps to prepare for a multi-day sportive

Climb, climb and climb some more!

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It sounds simple, but the more climbing you do the better you get at it. It’s not rocket science, but ultimately when something is difficult, we have a habit of avoiding it, so think of it this way. The better you get at it, the easier climbs feel and the faster you climb.

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Once you have done a block of strength work (as detailed in the previous section), then return to your preferred cadence and keep up the climbing. One session I get my coaching clients to do is to go out and climb for the same amount of time as they will on the hilliest day of their target event. Now, for a big day in the Alps this might mean more than two hours of climbing. Therefore, go out and ride your bike uphill for a total of two hours!

Obviously we don’t all have one-hour climbs on our doorstep but ten repeats of a 12-minute climb or 20 of a six-minute climb will give you the same amount of time spent climbing. If this sounds like purgatory then the reward will be worth the effort.

For those of you that live in areas where that much climbing just isn’t an option you need to use what you have – and this is most likely to be wind. Riding into a headwind gives a similar resistance as riding uphill as there is a constant force holding you back. Therefore, you can use a headwind as your own personal hill. Likewise cranking up the resistance on the turbo training and using smaller gears gives a great replication of the effort required on a climb, Get creative and find the best way to replicate overcoming the force of gravity.