Gran Fondo Training
Training for Your Next Gran Fondo
Custom Gran Fondo Training Plans
Whether you are training for gran fondos, sportifs, or want to complete an epic solo adventure, our coaches will be there to guide you along the path to success. Your gran fondo training plan will include workouts suited to your exact goals and rider strengths or weaknesses. We will be alongside you every step of the way to keep you on track.
Who Is This Training For?
Our gran fondo training plan is for anyone looking to complete or compete in gran fondos, sportifs, or epic adventures. Even if you do not have any goals yet but want to reach your full potential as a bike-rider, we are happy to work with you. Making you fast is our passion!
EVOQ Coaches Experience
Nothing can replace experience in the field. Each of our coaches has over a decade of racing and training experience. Combined, we have contended and even won some of the nationâs most competitive gran fondos and completed countless epic rides and sportifs. Let us share our experience and take you to the next level.
Feel free to reach out to us with more questions about the gran fondo training plan, or to get some more gran fondo tips. Weâd love to help you hit all of your goals this season!
EVOQ Gran Fondo Training Program
How Does the Training Program Work?
This is NOT a thoughtless cookie-cutter training plan. Unlike cookie-cutter training plans that give little regard to a specific riderâs needs, our one-on-one coaching program provides a personal training plan tailored to your exact needs.
Following a comprehensive evaluation, our expert coaches program workouts on your free Training Peaks account. Then, we follow up and communicate on EVERY WORKOUT to ensure you are executing them properly. Weekly check-ins ensure the big picture targets are being hit and adjustments are made to your training plan if âreal-lifeâ sometimes gets in the way.
We take the time to understand each athleteâs training background, occupation, and life situations to create a plan that works with your outside life. Our coaches are available to answer any of your questions related to training, cycling nutrition, strength training, and beyond.
Depending on the level of coaching you select for this plan, Zoom Calls are a great way to have ALL of your questions answered at all times. The more you are able to invest in your training and racing, the more we can invest in you!
Training for Your Next Gran Fondo
Planning to ride Gran Fondos this year? Whether itâs a small local gran fondo, or the Gran Fondo National Championships, you will need to be prepared to handle long distances and hard climbs. Some of them even have timed segments, so youâll want to have the top-end fitness to throttle these and post your best effort!
Gran fondos offer something to new and experienced cyclists alike. Newer cyclists can get their feet wet by riding a well-supported event, often in beautiful places with other riders of their ability level. The feeling of accomplishment you get when completing a tough gran fondo course is unrivaled!
Veteran cyclists find their challenge by contending for timed segments. These timed segments often occur on climbs and are littered throughout the course. To win a gran fondo, you need to have the fastest cumulative time on each segment.
Other sportif style events do not contain times segments, but rather are mass start events where riders can ride at their own pace. Oftentimes, more experienced riders will race the entire course to get the thrill of beating their companions. Others just like to ride at their own pace and enjoy the scenery. Either is an awesome day out on the bike, and we all want to put our best foot forward, no matter whether we are racing or just enjoying a big, long, ride!
What Does it Take to Compete at a Gran Fondo?
If you are training for a gran fondo, you need to make sure you have the right skillset to ensure you can not only complete the gran fondo, but totally smash it! Many beginner riders show up to gran fondos underprepared; instead of enjoying the experience, they are totally miserable when they begin to suffer half-way through. Donât let that happen! You will love the feeling of finishing strong!
To succeed at a gran fondo, you of course need to have good endurance. That can only be accomplished by consistently putting in miles on the bike. If you are pressed for time, there are a few workarounds to make yourself a more efficient bike rider, but you must go out for long rides regularly so you can handle the distance.
To improve your endurance, you need to train your fat-burning capabilities. Many riders make the mistake of training too hard and are âsugar-burners.â To have good endurance, you need to teach your body to utilize fat as a fuel source by training at the proper intensities so you can preserve your bodyâs limited glycogen stores.
A good FTP is also an important aspect of training for gran fondos. The higher your FTP, the faster you can complete the course or timed-segments. However, training at FTP is not the only way to improve your FTP; you must get a good mix of endurance miles and high-intensity intervals above FTP to continue to push up your aerobic ceiling.
If you are training to win a gran fondo, you might need to have a good finishing kick so you can sprint at the end of segments; you will also have to be able to handle accelerations above FTP on the climbs. These will not just feel like a 100% FTP constant effort. Gran fondos can be won or lost by a matter of seconds, so being able to outsprint the competition at the end is an important skill.
Another crucial aspect of gran fondos and sportifs is nutrition. It does not matter how well youâve trained for your event, if your nutrition is not dialed in, you will suffer. Nutrition can take some riders many years to figure out, and others might never reach their full potential due to improper fueling. We can help you to figure out how to fuel properly before, during, and after the gran fondo event.
See Also: Polarized Trianing for Cycling
Are You Prepared to Handle a Gran Fondo?
Do you have the endurance necessary to complete your gran fondo? Can you handle repeated hard efforts on timed segments, even after several hours on the bike? Is your FTP and VO2 max where it needs to be to achieve your goals on timed segments and drop the competition? Are you training at the proper zones to achieve these goals?
These are all important questions to consider before competing in a gran fondo. It could be that you are logging big miles on the bike, but your training intensity is too high or too low to fully reap the benefits.
Perhaps you are time-crunched and need guidance on how you can maximize your time while training for your events.
Maybe, youâve got the endurance, but just need some fine-tuning on the top-end to go from completing to competing!
Possibly, youâve nailed your training plan, but need someone to keep you accountable throughout the process and offer training and nutrition guidance along the way.
Let us perform a $30 Power File Analysis to see what your strengths and weaknesses are as a rider. Weâll be able to key in on your rider type, and learn more from you about your past experiences, to help map out the best way forward for your events.