Technique
One of the most successful stage racers of his generation offers strategies for riding well day after day
Cadel Evans’s tips for riding multi-day events
Cadel Evans – who not only won the 2011 Tour de France, but a number of stage races – was one of the greatest multi-day riders of the era. He learned a lot about handling himself through his experiences during his lengthy career. Some of those lessons were difficult ones. In 2002, he took the lead in the Giro d’italia before exploding in the mountains. His hard-won wisdom can help you as you take on rides that have you on your bike for consecutive days.
“I think the biggest thing in multiday stage racing is that you’re starting a race every day, so other than on the first day, you’re starting tired,” Evans says. “It’s a different kind of feeling in your legs compared with single-day events. You need to expect that fatigue. It’s very important how you look after yourself, both during and after the race. Recovery is vital. You need to watch how much energy you expend.”
In recent years, Evans has taken on sportives and even the 2017 Cape Epic mountain bike stage race. The latter is a bit of a throwback for Evans, who started his career as a mountain biker. He took on Cape Epic with former bmc Racing teammate George Hincapie. “When you’re racing with the professionals, it’s one thing to know yourself and your body, but you also really need to know when to race and expend energy and when not to,” he says. “As you get older, you may start to lose it a bit physically, but that’s where the experience comes in. When you see a more experienced rider like George Hincapie go to the front with a nervous look, you know that you need to prepare, so taking note of those riders is very important.”
The role nutrition plays in multiday events is significant. “One of the biggest mistakes riders make is that they don’t consume enough while they’re on the bike. I think on-bike fuelling is more important than what you eat before and after stages,” he says. “You need to make sure you eat and drink what you can stomach – and what you like.”
Even the best pros have off-days. One can often mean the difference between winning or losing a threeweek race. Yet, there’s no magic when it comes to getting through a multi-day event. You simply need to keep on top of the challenges as best as you can, both physically and mentally. “My bad days were not so bad, so I was fortunate in that regard. You have everything to lose, so you just have to minimize your losses and limit the damage, tough it out and get through. That was my way,” Evans says.
Absorbing the hurt is not an easy thing to do, but it is what separates one rider from another. “One of my strengths was that I was able to push myself hard enough on a bad day to get through it,” he says.