TOUR DE FITNESS 21 WAYS TO MAINTAIN YOUR FORM THROUGHOUT LA GRANDE BOUCLE

Don’t let your fitness take a back seat to watching the Tour. Chris Marshall-Bell has a motivational tip for every stage

- Chris Marshall-Bell

Getting to a French roadside to watch this year’s Tour de France might be trickier than usual – most of us will be staying at home. All the more reason, then, to use the Tour as inspiration to spice up your training. To that end, we have devised 21 Tour-themed suggestions – one for each stage – to help take your cycling to the next level over the course of this year’s race.

With the help of former and current Tour riders and coaches, we’ve conjured up a wide array of daily challenges and ideas. Need to sharpen your speed? Covered. Craving a climbing challenge? Plenty of options. Want to ride long? Read on. Fancy eating like the peloton? Tuck in.

You don’t have to do them in any particular order or tick off everyone. Simply choose the ones you fancy as and when you have the time and inclination. That way, when the Tour rolls into Paris on 18 July, you’ll feel fully justified joining the pros in their celebratory drinks (see 21).

1 SPRINT AT HIGH CADENCE

As many as eight stages will fall the way of sprinters in this year’s Tour, so it’s important that you fine-tune your speed too. Scott Thwaites, who rode the race in 2017, recommends this training drill:

“Sprinting in an easier gear really helped me when it came to racing. Try sticking with an easier gear during some sprints in training – as the low cadence becomes a high one, hang on and just try to maintain that cadence for around 10 seconds. It’s not for out-and-out power, but it’s great for leg speed and acceleration.”

2 ESCAPE! GRIND A BIG GEAR