Get ready for the Grand Raid BCVS with ARNAUD RAPILLARD – EPISODE N°4
6 April 2025
5 months to go before the GRAND RAID BCVS!
There’s no point in running, though…
Obviously, we’re talking about a preparatory race here. The BCVS Grand Raid is still a long way off, but keep in mind that a race can’t be improvised.
You can race in training, with Strava crowns as your target, but there’s no substitute for a race number. Stress, effort management, nutrition before and during the race… getting into peak form on D-Day means finding your own routines.
You either like it or you don’t, but the preparation run is a sort of dress rehearsal. Doing it at least once seems necessary. For the “long” format, a round of the MTB Alpine Cup might be ideal. The Jura Bike Marathon in May, the Raid Evolénard in June. The MB Race or Summer Bike Marathon in July, the Eiger Bike Challenge in August.
In French-speaking Switzerland, there’s a whole series of races that have come together under the “West Bike Cup” label. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, they offer a unique opportunity to pace yourself at different locations in French-speaking Switzerland. While short, intense efforts may seem far removed from the marathon mountain bike format, this type of effort allows you to push your limits, get out of your comfort zone, and clearly put yourself in the red. Definitely a way to progress that should be part of your training plan.
Old-timers like myself miss the days of the Rhone bend trophy and the Papival Bike Tour, but if you look hard enough, there are still plenty of opportunities to hang up a race number.
Mark your calendars!
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.
