Tapering and What to Do the Week Before Your Cycling Race
Training can be a lot like drinking: to have a great time you need to know when to stop. In the taper week leading up to a race or event, athletes can do more to undermine their training than they can to enhance it. Yet, just like that “one more” drink, it’s the prospect of getting a little extra something that gets you in trouble.
Insecurity is what drives athletes to make mistakes in the week leading up to an important challenge.
Confidence is perhaps the most beneficial trait of an elite athlete, and the best among them are wise enough to let their confidence guide them. The ultimate goal is an athlete who can recognize when fitness is at its peak and who is confident enough not to push further trying to get something more.
When to start a taper
A good training program delivers the final significant training stimulus far enough out from your goal event to allow for both adaptation and complete recovery. For the majority of amateur cyclists, this means normal training should stop 7-10 days from your event and be followed by a short taper. Remember, training is stress, and in the short term it causes fatigue, which suppresses performance. The only way to reap all the benefits of your program is to significantly reduce your workload and let your true fitness rise all the way to the surface.
Since fitness changes somewhat slowly, it’s important to realize that no matter where your conditioning is with one week to go, that’s what you have to work with. In the time you have left, no combination of workouts is going to significantly boost your sustainable power over 1, 5, 20, or 60 minutes. That part of the equation is now fixed, but you can still control how rested and fresh you can be on the starting line.
The Balancing Act
A week of great sleep, easy spins, and good food would ensure you’re rested for race-day, but to be fresh you need some intense workouts. The two seem at odds but tapering is all about reducing the overall training workload while retaining just enough stimulus to keep the body primed and ready to go.
Reducing your training load is as simple as cutting back on the hours and miles, and also reducing your pace. If your rides are normally 90 minutes, this week they’re 60. Hour-long rides go to 45 minutes. They don’t have to be complete recovery rides, but you need to resist the urge to test yourself every time you go out. The fitness is there, but you have to trust it.
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Road Race or Long Endurance Event Taper
If you’re preparing for a long one- or two-day event like a road race, the Leadville 100, or an MS150, your week should have one longer ride in it, preferably Wednesday. This is a “supercompensation ride” to deplete your carbohydrate stores and get your body to jumpstart all the metabolic processes so it’s prepared for the next time you pull something like that… like race day. People ask about 3-day and one-day carbohydrate loading techniques, and nutritionally they can both work, but overall for long one- or two-day events we find a supercompensation ride followed by a moderate increase in carbohydrate intake to be highly effective and less likely to be disruptive to an athlete’s routine.
Criterium or Short Event Taper
If it’s a criterium or other short event you’re preparing for, then you need to balance rest with short, maximum-intensity workouts in order to keep your body primed without inducing a lot of fatigue. This can mean two sessions (Tuesday/Thursday or Wednesday/Friday) that include “1-on-1-offs”, one-minute max efforts with one-minute recoveries. Three sets of three is usually sufficient. You can also try high-speed sprints, even the day before the event, as these 15-second efforts that start from about 25-27mph downhill are great for making riders feel fast, powerful, and “open.”
After months of training, the final week is where paths diverge: confident athletes rest easy knowing they’re as fit as they’re going to be, and insecure ones second-guess themselves. Besides some sample one-week taper schedules, the primary take-away should be this: Know when to say when. You’ll gain more from being fresh and rested than from anything you could add to your training within five days of your event.
Sample Road Race/Century/Charity Ride Taper
| Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat | Sun |
| Rest Day | 60 minutes moderate pace | Rest day | 3:00-4:00 hours steady pace. Be sure to eat and drink! | 45 minutes recovery spin | 60 minutes moderate pace, with 3x 3min high-cadence, low-resistance pedaling drills, 5min spinning between each. | THE BIG DAY! |
Sample Criterium Taper
| Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat | Sun |
| Rest Day | 60 minutes moderate pace | Rest day | 90minute moderate pace with 3×3 1-minute max efforts, 1min recovery between intervals, 6min recovery between sets. | 45 minutes recovery spin | 60 minutes moderate pace, with 5x 15sec High-Speed Sprints, 4min recovery between each. | Say “Uncle” Criterium |
Sample Ironman Taper (final week only)
| Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat | Sun |
| Rest Day | 90 min endurance miles with 2×10 min tempo Swim 2600 | 45 min endurance run with 6×15 sec strides | 1 hour Endurance Miles with 2×5 min steady state, 30 min recovery run | Rest Day | 30 min open water swim, 15 min recovery miles, 20 min recovery run with 4×10 sec strides | Ironman |
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Comments 48
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Hi,
I am 63 years young 🙂 and training for the 100 mile, El Tour (Tucson) and need to know how to ramp down properly for “race day”, I get (very intense) leg cramps.
I ride 24-65 miles-daily, depending on the heat and how early I get our the door. I try to mix in at least 2 hill-climbs per week and I have started to get very strong cramps in my legs.
Can you let me know if I am over doing or doing something wrong with my training? I eat a lot of Mediterranean food and love it. But I feel that I cannot get the right electrolyte balance – hence the cramps. Any help would be much appreciated!!
I am doing RAID PYRENNEES end of june over 4 1/2 days, 150-195km of riding each day and at least 3000m of ascent each day too. 60y of age. I am fortunate to be going on a 6 day training week in Majorca 15 days before the RP. So i will have 8 clear days to rest/taper in between. TSS during the camp will peak on day 4, days 5 and 6 will be easier.
I have no idea what to do in the 8 day gap. Tempted to take 2 days off the bike, then a z1/2 1h ride, each day just to keep the legs ticking over perhaps with a longer or tougher session day 4/5. Any advice would be much appreciated.
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What a wonderful, excellent, insightful article – Thank you!! I’m now 17 months back into cycling and fitness after 20+ years of “couching”, with my first Tour de Tucson ride in 9 days. My wise marathon runner friend Hongbo told me today about “tapering” for the first time; then this cycling article meshes perfectly with his running wisdom! < Thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ for this as *another* gem!
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hi guys thank u for a great taper plan – may i please ask what u meant by steady pace ride on thursday – 3-4 hrs in the taper plan for a century event please, in terms of power zones or HR zones ?
Thanks for this inspiring article.
If I well understand the “super compensation-ride” I need to ride 3:00-4:00 hours @ steady pace?
I think I might not understand this as it seems to me a very depleting ride… (if I even could make it to the end 🙂 )
“steady pace” that would mean 96% a 100% of my CTS? I don’t think anyone is able to sustain close to 100% of your CTS for much longer than 1h…
So, did I misinterpret what “steady pace” means in percentage-relation to my CTS?
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What does moderate pace and steady pace convert in terms of power zones? Nice article.
thanks Coach Chantelle.
didn’t realize that what you had me do this week was taper for my Saturday race. 🙂
Coaches can be sneaky, Gene 😉
Hi
Love this sit, what a revelation!
So 6 months ago I was deeply unfit, zero exercise for years and lots of fatty food & drinking. I got on the bike & loved it and have got myself up to a century.
About 1 month ago I got a serious chest infection. I’ve had a few short rides but really haven’t managed much. In7 days I’m scheduled to ride 250km inside 12 hours Spartakida in Greece. I’ve raised a lot of sponsorship mo way for charity so I really can’t drop out.
Question is given I’ve probably lost a lot of base fitness (and that was limited) in the down month, what should I do in these 7 days. Considering a 100km day 7, 160km day 5 and then maybe 35km day 3 and rest. Any advice massively appreciated!
Thanks.
David,
Do not underestimate yourself, yes, you may not be as fit as you would like, but you have been ill.
250 k in 12 hours is still doable, but keep your rides to a max of 100 k at a steady pace.
Ride your main event and avoid bigger gears, aim for 85-95 rpm, rather than powering round.
Your strength and endurance will have taken a hit because of your illness.
You can still do this, I believe in you.
Your sponsorship believes in you.
Just change your riding strategy to use a slightly lower gearing, higher cadence.
Good luck my friend
Thanks for the tapering plans, very helpful. I’m curious what your thoughts are on target stress balance as part of a plan for tapering also and if age is consideration. My primary interest is for ultra endurance rides like DK200, which I’ve completed twice now at race age 60 and 61, and will hopefully get into this coming year again.
Know yourself. If I were to ride 3-4 hours at a moderate pace on Wednesday and was doing a very hilly metric or flat century on Sunday, it is likely I would be too tired for the Sunday event…But I am 73 years old.
Amen to that!
As I age (67), it takes me longer to recover from hard workouts. This is reflected in my attempts to taper as well.
What do you think is the optimal TSS range for the morning of a long endurance ride? I’m signed up for RAMROD, 154 miles, 9000’+. Haven’t done it in 10 years. 71 now and looking forward to it. I’ll use your taper suggestion. Ride is Thursday, so supercomp on Monday?
If you use TP.com to its full capability you can build in “what if” scenarios to see what effect different rides have on your “Freshness”. Its a real eye opener.
Hi,
I have been doing your Time crunched cyclist program (6 hours per week) for almost 4 weeks now and I have my first 2 day MTB race after 15 days. I am expecting a saddle time of 5-6 hours on both days. What tapering method should I follow? Please suggest…
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Great advice, have been following this approach for years in front of BIG rides like the Death Ride.
Maybe I’ve gotten a little nervous and unsure over the years as father time has set in, but I’ve moved the supercompensation ride up one day, and it’s fine.
QUESTION: What’s the recommendation for two weeks prior to the event?
Any type of tapering? Typical training? Above average training stress/duration?
All good information,what do you think about a 62 year old doing Leadville and tapering?Thanks
How about a tapering schedule for ultra-endurance races? These are multi-day or multi-week single stage bikepacking races ranging from 550 miles to 2700+ miles where the race clock is running 24 hours a day. Examples would be the Arizona Trail Race 750, Tour Divide, and the Colorado Trail Race. Thanks!
Chris, I am doing a 40k road race as part of the Senior Olympics in Delaware which I won in my age group (70-74) last year and set a state record. I’m doing interval training you recommended now which helped me get fit last year. What do you recommend for me 1 week prior to the race. Thanks
Ray
Thank you for the great information. How about for a weeklong event, like the Bicycle Tour of Colorado?
OK; here’s what I did
T-8 days: 8 hr ride, 169km, ave heart rate 108, max heart rate 140 (N.B. my cardiologist does not want me to let my heart rate exceed 135)
T-7: rest day
T-6: 2hrs 20 min ride, 56 km ave hr 101, max hr 131
T-5 2 hr ride, 43km, ave hr 91, max hr 111
T-4 1 hr 25 min ride, 23 km, ave hr 84, max hr 120
T-3 1 hr 25 min ride, km not recorded, ave hr 96, max hr 122
T-2 45min ride, about 12km, no heart rate data. Put bike in the car and drove 350km to the ferry terminal. Slept in the car.
T-1 took the ferry to the event island, checked in. No riding. In bed by 22:00
T-0 up at 2:30, ate breakfast, left lodging about 4:30. rode 10km to the start. Stood around till 6:00. Rode 210 km in 10hrs 20 min. (Note: it was an endurance event; not a race.)
Any suggestions on how I could have tapered better over the week prior to the event? I don’t think there is anything that could have been done differently on the even day.
Like your tapering, seems solid.
For the century taper, which is more intense a “moderate” (Tuesday) or “steady” (Thursday) pace? I think ‘steady’, but wanted to confirm…thanks for the great advice!
Hi, great info but I am racing in MTB races, which of sample fit me better? Criterium or road race.
Thanks a lot
Author
For relatively short (1-2 hour) XC mountain bike races, treat them like a criterium. For Endurance mountain bike races like 50- and 100-milers, treat them like road races, in terms of the taper the week before. – Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach
How does the above adapt to a 2.5 day 600 km charity ride
Great info, but where I live the races are primarily two day stage races with a crit, TT and road race (in any order). Tapering suggestions?
Author
Chuck, pretty much the same taper as the criterium schedule above, but on Wednesday I’d recommend 4x6min TT intervals and them move the 1min PowerIntervals to Friday and cut that workout down to 1 set of 6x1min PI. These two sessions should keep your steady-effort power going for the TT and Road Race, and keep you fresh for the sharp accelerations as well. – Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach
Hi Jim, thanks for the information. On the answer to Chuck’s question, would you still do the 60 minute ride on Tuesday? Thursday would be rest day or 45 min recovery?
Author
Dennis,
You’re right, I forgot to complete the modification. Still do the 60-min ride on Tuesday, and replace Thursday’s workout with 45min recovery ride. – Jim Rutberg
I soooooo needed this article!
No supercompensation ride on this modification? ( What if the second stage is a long distance one -100 miles?)
Tks