7 months with the GRAND RAID BCVS!
“Time flies. Much too fast. It’s cold, it’s ugly, it’s dark… So what do we do?”
It’s a legitimate question. The most seasoned cyclists will tell you that there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad equipment. And these are the same people who spend the winter in Spain or the Canary Islands!
To perform well in an endurance sport, training volume remains one of the keys. Hibernation is therefore not recommended, but you need to know how to adapt to current conditions.
Historically, we’ve advocated hours of endurance and groundwork before moving on to intensity. Times are changing, thank God.
Reverse periodization is a method that can be applied in winter to keep pedaling. In this approach, the cyclist maintains one or two home trainer sessions per week with specific exercises (short intervals, PMA, pedaling technique, explosiveness) and achieves endurance volume in other disciplines (ski touring, cross-country skiing). A short running session can be beneficial both from a cardiovascular point of view, and from a bone-building point of view to prevent osteoporosis.
Muscle strengthening is not a bad idea. While the notion of transferring from the gym to the bike is not always obvious, sheathing and well-developed muscles are a prerequisite for developing power on the bike and agility on the descent.
Long sessions on the home trainer, no thanks!
An outdoor session on the best day of the weekend is often possible (NB: no bad weather, just bad equipment), or simply do an hour’s home trainer following a cross-country or ski touring outing to maintain good pedaling coordination, even if we all agree that cycling … can’t be forgotten.
Happy February and see you soon.
Arnaud
Registration and information at www.grand-raid-bcvs.ch.
Introducing your coach :
Arnaud Rapillard, 37, 5x top 10 Verbier-Grimentz, PR: 6h23 and 49 seconds in 2016.
He has 18 editions to his credit between 2004 and 2023, including 12 from Verbier. He knows the course “like the back of his hand.
Trained at the University of Fribourg and then at Macolin in the field of sports science, his knowledge of training and physiology were the keys to his consistency on this legendary event. A hard worker and perfectionist, he has always sought to pay attention to the details of his training and his equipment in order to push back his limits.
Now retired from competitive sport, he puts the same energy into his company Next Percent to help endurance athletes achieve their goals.