There are a lot of things that the average cyclist can learn from watching big races such as the Tour de France and the Tour of California. The teams work together so well that sometimes every break away that gets away seems to happen for a reason, and the teams soon reel the riders in at a specific point for tactical advantages. But you don’t have to study these pros in the big races to learn to ride like them. Here are a few easy things that you can learn to ride more like the pros.
Pacing: It may not be noticeable to the average rider watching the pros on TV, but each of them is carefully monitoring their energy output each day. It’s as if they have a specific goal in mind at the beginning of the day, so they start with a fixed amount of gas in the tank and will only use as much as necessary during each stage. Each hard effort that they put out burns gas and at the end of the stage they will have used up the amount of gas in the tank right as they cross the finish line.
Proper pacing is important so you don’t burn all your fuel before the end of the ride, because there’s no way of getting it back. Something that helps in breaking the ride up into pieces, either thirds or quarters whichever you prefer. Set a goal for each part of your ride and make sure you follow that goal, but don’t be overly aggressive with your goals. You want to have some left in the tank when it comes to the finish of the group ride or a race. (TIP: if you completely deplete your energy source, it makes it difficult to recover for the next day. Be conservative.)
Group Riding: When you are riding in a group and you are properly drafting off the rider in front of you, you can save upwards of 30% of your energy. You need to practice pace lining. Many riders are not confident in their pace lining and this causes them to actually waste more energy than they would on their own. Being smooth and confident is the key to saving as much energy as possible.
Tactics: The ride profile will decide what kind of tactics riders will use. On a flat ride, a team will usually ride at an above average pace to discourage a break away from getting away. On a hillier ride, it’s important that riders become cautious and not to use up to much energy on the first half of the ride. When it comes time to climb, that’s when you can start using more gas that’s in the tank. Be careful though, many riders tend to start out too hard and burn too much energy at the beginning and then don’t have enough to keep up towards the top of a climb. Be smart when riding: the most important thing to riding/racing is to conserve as much energy as possible. This will make you a better and stronger rider.
Nutrition: The most important factor of them all is what you eat and drink on the bike. You don’t see it on TV, but the riders are drinking from there bottles every 10-15mins, usually a sports drink, and eating some type of energy bar every 15-20mins. During a ride you usually will burn more fuel than you can take in during the ride. Eating and drinking complex carbohydrates is very important during the ride so you won’t cramp and you will last throughout your ride. Proper nutrition also helps the recovery process after the ride. (TIP: If you start fading at the end of a ride, it’s most likely because you went too hard and were not able to replenish your fuel in time.)
Lessons from the Pros: You will notice that sometimes a rider in the Tour De France will be climbing with a group and then all of a sudden they are off the back, and they are not going anywhere fast. Cadel Evans had this experience in this year’s Tour. He was climbing beyond his energy limits and then all of a sudden he “hits the wall” and falls off the lead group and can barely pedal his bike. He went way too far into his energy bank and couldn’t take in enough nutrition to stay with the group.
Many other things can make you ride more like the pros. Their clothing, for instance, is made specifically for competition. It’s tight, lightweight, and ventilates very well. Clothing from VOmax is top-of-the-line for cycling, running and skiing, and it’s all made here in the
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