7 Essential Tips for Your 'A Race' Preparation

As a semi-professional cyclist who rides for both the Ribble Collective and Ribble Rebellion cycling teams, Tom Couzens knows a thing or two about the intensive training required for the biggest events. Here, he shares his essential tips to ensure you hit the start line in peak physical condition.

1. Be organised

My next main race was The Rift, a 200-km gravel race through the dark lava fields of the highlands of Iceland, circumnavigating one of the most active volcanoes on the island, Hekla. Although this event requires more logistics than most, organisation is key for any event. In the days leading up to the race, conserving your energy is crucial, so you don’t want to stress about the little things.

As a bare minimum, ensure you have the following organised: the correct kit, for instance I will need to be digging my winter kit out of hibernation so need to be sure as to where I have put it all. Nutrition: have you decided on the brand you will be using and do you have enough to fuel your event? Logistics: do you need to book accommodation, flights, a car hire? These things often get more expensive the closer to the event so being organised can help you save some cash! Finally, ensure your bike is race-ready. Do your tyres or brake pads need replacing? Is your chain worn? Check all these things with enough time for you to replace them if needed.

2. Get your training dialled in

The beauty of cycling is its variety. From gravel to crit racing, cyclocross, mountain biking, and even ultra-distance events, I believe I have one of the most varied calendars out there. However, this variety does create a problem in that training for a 1-hour crit requires a very different type of fitness to a 200km gravel race.

At the start of each season, I pencil in my races and pick out my ‘A races’. Factors I consider include events that suit me best, races where I am the defending champion, and the cost/logistics involved in getting there. This planning provides a template for my training, ensuring I spread out my ‘A races’ across the year so that I have enough time between each one to adapt my training to suit.

With The Rift, lots of my training revolved around building an aerobic base and balancing training as well as racing with working full time. Which meant Ihad to be clever with the number of sessions I did as, sadly, I don’t have hours and hours free each day to clock up the kilometres. A number of key sessions included:

• 3 to 4 hours with 3 x 20-minute sweet spot efforts with 5 to 10 minutes of recovery between each.
• 3 to 4 hours with 4 x 15-minute on/off efforts. The duration varies depending on the event, from 10 to 15 seconds up to 1 minute.
• 2 hours with 5 x 5-minute VO2 max efforts with 5 minutes of recovery in between.

My biggest suggestion would be to get a coach if you’re serious about doing well in an ‘A race’. A good coach will create a personalised training plan that will get you in the best shape possible for your event. Personally I find a coach really helps to keep you accountable, and they can also provide great advice regarding everything from tactics to nutrition in some cases.

3. Selecting the right bike

Although I briefly touched upon the topic earlier, I think this deserves its own standalone piece, as ultimately your bike is what will get you to that finish line. I am extremely lucky in that I ride for both The Ribble Collective for gravel and any other off-road races and the Ribble Rebellion team for any road-based races.

You need to have confidence in your bike set-up to get you to that finish line, and with a calendar as varied as mine, this can mean a multitude of different types of bikes. From a Gravel Earth World Series Win to a National Crit Podium and multiple National Series top 10s in both Cyclocross and crit races, I’ve achieved these all on Ribble bikes. For me, this couldn’t be a bigger testimony to the brand, and for me, two particular models stand out the most. These being the Ultra SL R Disc and the Gravel SL.

The Ultra is unlike any other bike on the market and has been designed with one thing in mind - Speed. An already striking bike, made even bolder with a paint scheme as wild as the Ribble Rebellion team, is always going to raise eyebrows and attract covetous eyes. This, of course, also means the same questions are freqently faced. Why is there no bar tape? Is it faster than an endurance bike? These being the two I hear most often. Wind tunnel data doesn’t lie, and you just have to take a look at the graphs to see it’s faster, but a wind tunnel is not the same as riding out on the road and I understand why people may be dubious about such bold claims. However, you’re wrong. After only a few minutes of riding one for the first time, I was blown away, and still, to this day, every time I swing my leg over that top tube; I am staggered by how fast it is. I simply love it!

So many positives can also be said for the Ribble Gravel SL, its verstility being one of them. One of the reasons I love riding so much is for the adventures; whether that's the lava fields of Iceland, your local bridleways, or even your favourite road loop, the Gravel SL is capable of conquering them all. So far this season, I haven't finished off the podium in any races I’ve started aboard my Gravel SL. From a race across a Pembrokeshire beach to the fine gravel of Girona, to the rough rocks of mid-Wales and everything else in between the Gravel SL has excelled. There’s no mistaking it’s a very fast bike, yet it is also one that can provide endless miles of fun.

Having both of these bikes in my artillery means I am pretty much covered for any type of training session or race, and in an age where so many abide by the N+1 rule, I truly believe with one of each of these, you will never be buying another bike again.

4. Nutrition is just as key

A key component overlooked time and again is your nutrition. I’ve seen it all, from people hitting the wall so hard they pretty much come to a complete standstill to others struggling to even stomach their questionable looking sports nutrition. The biggest word of advice I can offer on this topic is practice.

For me it should be the area you dial in first when you start training, find what works for you and stick to it. For me I’ve tried pretty much all the sports nutrition brands out there on the market and have struggled in the past with problems such as those mentioned above with all the options I've tried.

I think a common problem is overcomplicating it, and my second word of advice would be to keep it simple. No matter whether you’re training or racing, you’re putting your body through a lot, and I've found keeping it natural to be game-changing. Moving away from products that are full of ultra-processed ingredients such as maltodextrin, artificial additives, preservatives and flavourings and instead opting for natural alternatives such as Veloforte has helped fuel me for hours upon hours without any issues.

In both training sessions and races, I always have a target of 80 to 90 grams of carbohydrates per hour. The sources of these carbs will vary, and again, this is where practice comes into play. For me, I find energy bars work a treat alongside electrolyte powders in my bottles during training, but when it comes to races, I find switching the energy bars for energy chews and energy gels to be more beneficial to me. If in doubt, I will always take more than I need, and I always make sure I have an emergency energy gel. A couple of years ago, said emergency gel helped to patch a ripped tyre sidewall during a gravel race, so you’re never sure when it might come in handy.

5. Fail to prepare and you're preparing to fail. Again

Similar to carrying an extra energy gel in case of an emergency, taking the correct spare equipment with you is crucial. When it comes to gravel racing, I carry a slightly more significant amount of spares due to the distance and remoteness involved in such races. This is a complete list of everything I will take with me for the majority of gravel races:

• 1 x Hydration vest with a 2L bladder and space for spare equipment.
• 2 x bottles with Veloforte electrolytes
• Goretex Sportful Waterproof
• Veloforte energy chews and gels
• 3 x CO2 canisters
• 2 x inner tubes
• Tyre patches
• Tyre plugs
• Tyre levers
• Pump
• Multi-tool

6. Race strategy

I race to win, but of course, that is not always the case. The person who crosses the finish line first isn’t always the strongest, and racing is just as much about the tactics involved. This can drastically vary from race to race, and although I often go into a race with a strategy in mind, the likelihood of sticking to said plan is very slim due to the unique nature of every race.

Take Battle On The Beach, for example. I attacked off the start line. This was not at all my intention five minutes before the starting gun, but I got a good start and decided to just go for it. Looking behind me a minute later to see only one rider with me meant I pushed on. From here, the gap was only grey, and eventually, I managed to take the win after a two-up sprint.

The Rift is 200 km long, which is a long way by anyone's standards, but especially mine. I would say the shorter races suit me better where the intensity is higher, and this means both my mindset and strategy have to change. The main change is going from racing aggressively to racing slightly more tactically, saving my matches for the latter part of the race when things will really start to kick off.

One thing that shocks many is that I don’t race or train with a heart rate or power meter. I have done so in the past and could hit some solid numbers, but I now love going off sensations. I’ve learnt to listen to my body and know how long I can hold an effort, and so far, it has worked really well for me. I'm not telling everyone you should suddenly ditch all your data points, but it could be something to consider in the future.

7. Post race recovery

My final piece of advice is to consider your post-race recovery, as post-race blues are really real. This is something that is not talked about often but is certainly something I have struggled with in the past. For months and months, you’re fixated on this one goal, and the second it’s done, your motivation can be lost in a heartbeat.

My first tip is to focus on your immediate recovery. This includes everything from the minutes to days and week after. Give your body the fuel it needs as you cross that finish line, start off with a protein shake that focuses on getting carbohydrates back into your body with some low level protein to kickstart the recovery routine then a few hours later look at refuelling with more protein rich foods. Do a cool down, stretch, foam rolling, or even get a massage. Personally, I find the better I treat my recovery, the better my motivation feels after that ‘A race’.

Entering another event is my second piece of advice. Giving yourself another goal can really help banish those post-race blues. I like to mix up disciplines and types of events to keep things as interesting as possible so that I am always learning and getting better. For others, you might find keeping to road cycling, for instance, perfectly fine, and if that is you, then there are still so many options. From setting a goal to riding further than you’ve ever done before to entering your first race, crit, or hill climb, there are so many options. For me, my next big goal will be the British Gravel National Champs!