Get a grip on gran fondos
Research is key to prevailing in gran fondos such as the one held on Milan-San Remo's route, says coach Liam Holohan
Despite their sense of inclusivity gran fondos, like marathons, are not to be taken lightly. “Doing your homework and learning about the course, the conditions, the duration and the changes in gradient and road surfaces is essential if you’re going to be spending six or more hours tackling them among a mass of riders,” explains former Team Raleigh and Team Wiggins rider Liam Holohan.
Gran fondos are often spectacular events to be a part of, so you want to ensure you’re prepared enough to not simply survive them but enjoy them – you want to make it a memorable ride for all the right reasons. If there were such a thing as the prototypical gran fondo rider, for Liam Holohan, Vincenzo Nibali, the 2018 Milan-San Remo winner, encapsulates all the necessary characteristics. “Think of his ability to cope with the whole mix of a gran fondo’s demands: long climbs, short punchy ones, challenging descents – Nibali pretty much has all you need.”
01 DIG OUT DATA
Early background research into the sportive you’re doing will determine many things for you, from your range of gearing, clothing and tactics, to what you eat and when you eat it on the day. Use tools, such as Strava and VeloViewer to get to know the route you’ll be facing.
02 SPOT WEAK POINTS
Use your route research to identify any weaknesses you need to work on. If you’re a great climber but your endurance isn’t so good, then structure your training to devote more time to improving your engine. That way you’ll ensure you don’t run out of gas on the long haul. Research will help but your training makes the biggest difference.
03 FOCUS YOUR
TRAINING
Always work back from the event when planning your training. If you need to work on short, steep climbs because they’re a big feature of the route and a weakness of yours, then do so. I’d work on improving my power, for example, by using classic hill repeats and tailor my rides to mimic the times I’d face them in the race or
gran fondo. So if, for example, the climbs come late in the race, I’d devise training routes with climbs in the fourth, fifth and sixth hours of the ride. 04 ASK EXPERTS
Courses offered by clubs and British Cycling give you the opportunity to train specific skills often on safe, closed circuits. It could be drafting, cornering, descending or whatever. You may be practising as a group of relative newcomers ahead of your first gran fondo – so it pays to get some expert feedback to ensure that your practice is perfect. 05 FEEDING TIMES
Within the first hour of setting off I’d start taking on food. You can be riding a gran fondo for six hours or more, so you’re always playing catch-up when it comes to replacing energy – especially as the body can only take in around 60-90g of carbs per hour. Eat solid fuels, such as rice cakes, bananas and snack bars earlier in the ride. Then switch to gels and energy drink later on, when it’s crunch time. 06 COVER ALL THE BASES
Any gran fondo is a long, hard grind. Having the steel, savvy and stamina to stay in the saddle for hours on end is key. But the riders who excel in gran fondos are those who have the complete skill set, from an ability to master short, punchy climbs to tackling long, fast descents.