Marry Christmas and Happy New Year greetings from the indoor training camp.
We still have 25 weeks to prepare, train and lose weight so that we can cope these mountains. What was a 45 km uphill climbing in 2017 will be a gruelling 52 km to climb in 2026, representing a significant increase. This is not so relevant for riders weighing 60 kg, but for everyone else it is another challenge.
Stage 20 or Indiana Jones and the Final Exam
Recently, I watched the penultimate stage and its video, and once again I gained a deep respect for this undertaking, due to take place in July 2026. It makes me feel the previous 19 stages are just a preparation for this final test, which will be more challenging than anything I have ever done in cycling. I remember Chris spontaneously saying: “In the end, they want to kill us.”
In 2017 we did a similar route, descending from Col du Galibier down to Brioncion (see stage 17 from 2017). This time, however, we will climb back up to Col de Sarenne before rolling down to Alpe d’Huez to finish. The fact that this is “only 171 km” is no consolation.
That’s 5600 meters of elevation gain in a single day. My best performance so far has been 4600 meters. So, at the end of this tour, we’ll ride another complete Ötztaler cycling marathon.
If my motivation in training and discipline slip over sometimes in the next few months, I’ll watch this video and hey presto .. I’ll be back on the training bike.
Zwift’s Road to Sky
My virtual training software knows the route up to Alpe d’Huez. So I will climb this route once a week in addition to my other trainings, which means I will have “practised” it 25 times 🙂
Training & Preperation
I managed to get Phillipp on board to programme training sessions for me again, which I can complete on my virtual machine indoor or with Garmin outdoors on the bike. With his help and experience, I now have a structured plan, including the necessary recovery phases, which are essential for improvement. This approach worked well in 2021 when preparing for my one-day long-distance events such as the Milano-Sanremo and the Mallorca 312, and others. It enabled me to adhere to the plan with discipline.
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Dear Fellows, may 2026 be one of your best and most fantastic years yet. Wishing you all good health, happiness and love.
