{"id":205421,"date":"2026-06-02T18:39:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T18:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=205421"},"modified":"2026-06-02T18:39:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T18:39:39","slug":"speed-group-riding-and-tapering-preparing-for-letape-race-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/06\/02\/speed-group-riding-and-tapering-preparing-for-letape-race-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Speed, Group Riding, and Tapering: Preparing for l\u2019\u00c9tape Race Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

April didn\u2019t go to plan, and May started even worse. My training was derailed, so I had to get creative. Here is my last update before the race, where I talk about my training progress so far, my group riding practice, and how I plan to taper before the race.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The wheels came off in May<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If April was a bit of a struggle, the beginning of May was even worse. It was supposed to be my comeback month, a chance to finally log some serious volume. Instead, I got hit with another cold and an intestinal virus. On top of that, I had two weekends already committed to an annual family gathering and a get-together with my best friends. I was despairing at the start of the month, time was running out, and I felt way behind where I wanted to be.<\/p>\n

As I recovered from my illnesses, I decided to bikepack to my weekend<\/a> with friends and back home. This helped me salvage some training volume and even produced my longest ride of the year: 147 km. I also squeezed in one hard 3-hour ride at the end of May to test my nutrition plan. The caffeine gels were a success! Overall, I finished the month with close to 700 km. It wasn\u2019t what I\u2019d hoped for, but it was a pleasant surprise given the circumstances.<\/p>\n

June tapering<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Now, June is here, and I have two goals: build speed and power for climbing, and execute a proper taper so my legs feel fresh on race day.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll still go all-in during the first week of June. My plan includes one long weekend ride to simulate race day, complete with my planned breakfast and an 11:00 start time (just like the actual race). And a few shorter rides with sprints to hit around 10 hours on the bike for the week.<\/p>\n

That will wrap up three weeks of 10-hour training blocks, and then the taper begins. In the second week of June, I\u2019ll reduce my volume by 40%, dropping from 10 hours to about 6. I\u2019ll still ride 4 times, but the rides will be shorter, with intervals in at least two of them.<\/p>\n

In the third week of June, I\u2019ll cut back to about 3\u20134 hours of riding. On Monday or Tuesday, I\u2019ll do my last interval session. After that, it\u2019ll be 2\u20133 easy rides just to keep the legs spinning. On Friday, I\u2019ll probably skip riding entirely unless I need to shake off some pre-race nerves. Saturday is race day.<\/p>\n

\n
\"my-nutrition-and-fuelling-plan-for-letape-czech-republic\"\/<\/a><\/div>
\n Health & Training<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n

My Nutrition and Fuelling Plan for l\u2019\u00c9tape Czech Republic<\/span><\/h3>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/article>\n<\/div>\n

Practising riding in a bunch<\/strong><\/h2>\n

One aspect of racing I haven\u2019t talked about much is riding with other people. I\u2019m new to group riding, as I\u2019ve only done two proper group rides before signing up for l\u2019\u00c9tape<\/a>. This year, I planned to join a weekly group ride organised by Pav\u00e9 Cycles, a bike shop here in Prague. The pace is usually higher than what I\u2019m used to, so I first had to get in shape and make sure I was fresh enough to keep up. That\u2019s why it only worked out threetimes. But even those few rides were incredibly valuable. I got more comfortable with signalling, relaxing while keeping an eye on the rider in front of me, and, most importantly, staying close to the wheel to benefit from drafting at high speeds.<\/p>\n

Of course, racing will be different. It won\u2019t be an organised group led by experienced riders with the goal of a cohesive experience. It\u2019ll be every rider for themselves, with unpredictable movements and groups that will likely break up on the bigger climbs. This remains one of the biggest question marks for race day, but it\u2019s also what makes it so exciting.<\/p>\n

Nervous and excited<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The preparation for this race has already taught me a lot. I\u2019ve seen how quickly things can go wrong when reality hits, and I\u2019ve learned what I\u2019d do differently next time. Race day will put everything to the test. Will my fuelling plan hold up? How much drafting will I actually manage? Can I stick to my pacing strategy? How will I handle the heat? I\u2019m nervous, but I also can\u2019t wait. I\u2019ll check back in after the race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

April didn\u2019t go to plan, and May started even worse. My training was derailed, so I had to get creative. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":196790,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[332],"tags":[413,9021,7552,9041],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-205421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-training","tag-letape","tag-letape-czech-republic","tag-letape-training","tag-training-for-a-cycling-race","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nSpeed, Group Riding, and Tapering: Preparing for l\u2019\u00c9tape Race Day - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"April didn\u2019t go to plan, and May started even worse. My training was derailed, so I had to get creative. 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