training
The ways that professional athletes train for the Tour De France have changed considerably over the past 112 years since its inaugural race. Professional athletes like Lance Armstrong, whom after three years of retirement during which Armstrong ran marathons, he trained hard for 12 months for his comeback Tour De France. Most Tour De France racers train 30 hours a week for 5 years and continue to do so throughout their career to maintain their incredible level of fitness (http://theconversation.com/whats-in-a-plan-training-for-the-tour-de-france-14857).
Most typical Tour De France racers follow a regime of: off season training, pre-season training, early season training, and in season training. During the off season the athletes mostly rest, recuperate, and rehabilitate. They do so by doing “casual riding” on “low intensity”; which is not casual and not low intensity for non touring cyclists (http://theconversation.com/whats-in-a-plan-training-for-the-tour-de-france-14857).
During the pre-season is where the bulk of the core work, logging of miles, and increase in mileage is done. The athletes continually increase their training during this period, they increase average riding time during days from 3-4hrs at the beginning to 6-8hrs at the end. The athletes typically do three major races in a year: the Giro D’Italia, the Tour D’Afrique, and the Tour De France; building up the the Tour De France. The pre-season period is roughly six months long, where the athletes do moderate distances, and increase their increase their spinning to high cadences in the first phase (1 month) (http://theconversation.com/whats-in-a-plan-training-for-the-tour-de-france-14857).
The early season athletes typically taper off where they reduce their training down by 40-50% to lower the risk of injury before the Tour De France. The training intensity is often kept at the same level but, work periods are reduced. The athletes also focus on doing flexibility training to prevent injury or further injury. Finally the in-season training is doing the Tour De France itself (http://theconversation.com/whats-in-a-plan-training-for-the-tour-de-france-14857).
A great example of a training regimen for the Tour De France is Lance Armstrong. Lance has gone through a rigorous training program that can take place over three months. Where the first month consists of:
The first week where he would do 3 weight training sessions, 4 fixed gear rides for two hours, 2 rides on the road for two and a half hours, at a high pedal speed of 95+ rpm.
The next two weeks he would follow the same training regime while increasing riding times steadily by thirty minutes to an hour.
In the fourth week he would do 3 weight training sessions, four rides for two hours, and four rides on the road that are four hours or more. He would also throughout the week do a series of sprints to improve is explosive energy potential.
This would follow roughly the same format for the other months, with slight variations and focuses. For example the 2nd month would focus on aerobic foundation building, and resistance training (weight work), and the 3rd month would focus on aerobic foundation building, and resistance training (weight work & CTS STOMP intervals)
(http://www.gametimeworkouts.com/2008/03/lance-armstrongs-3-month-training.html).
Most typical Tour De France racers follow a regime of: off season training, pre-season training, early season training, and in season training. During the off season the athletes mostly rest, recuperate, and rehabilitate. They do so by doing “casual riding” on “low intensity”; which is not casual and not low intensity for non touring cyclists (http://theconversation.com/whats-in-a-plan-training-for-the-tour-de-france-14857).
During the pre-season is where the bulk of the core work, logging of miles, and increase in mileage is done. The athletes continually increase their training during this period, they increase average riding time during days from 3-4hrs at the beginning to 6-8hrs at the end. The athletes typically do three major races in a year: the Giro D’Italia, the Tour D’Afrique, and the Tour De France; building up the the Tour De France. The pre-season period is roughly six months long, where the athletes do moderate distances, and increase their increase their spinning to high cadences in the first phase (1 month) (http://theconversation.com/whats-in-a-plan-training-for-the-tour-de-france-14857).
The early season athletes typically taper off where they reduce their training down by 40-50% to lower the risk of injury before the Tour De France. The training intensity is often kept at the same level but, work periods are reduced. The athletes also focus on doing flexibility training to prevent injury or further injury. Finally the in-season training is doing the Tour De France itself (http://theconversation.com/whats-in-a-plan-training-for-the-tour-de-france-14857).
A great example of a training regimen for the Tour De France is Lance Armstrong. Lance has gone through a rigorous training program that can take place over three months. Where the first month consists of:
The first week where he would do 3 weight training sessions, 4 fixed gear rides for two hours, 2 rides on the road for two and a half hours, at a high pedal speed of 95+ rpm.
The next two weeks he would follow the same training regime while increasing riding times steadily by thirty minutes to an hour.
In the fourth week he would do 3 weight training sessions, four rides for two hours, and four rides on the road that are four hours or more. He would also throughout the week do a series of sprints to improve is explosive energy potential.
This would follow roughly the same format for the other months, with slight variations and focuses. For example the 2nd month would focus on aerobic foundation building, and resistance training (weight work), and the 3rd month would focus on aerobic foundation building, and resistance training (weight work & CTS STOMP intervals)
(http://www.gametimeworkouts.com/2008/03/lance-armstrongs-3-month-training.html).