STAGE 14

Today has a really hard finish with the Cote de la Croix Nieuve summt just a few kilometers from the stage finish. Before we hit the finish we go over some hilly terrain, we have mimicked the Col de Croix Berthel which you will do early on the stage.

The climbs today are done by looking at Strava times from some of the fastest riders. We have taken 70% of the fastest time for the Col de Croix Berthel and on the Cote de la Croix Nieuve we looked at Anthony Perez data from a his time racing over this climb last September. We have mimicked his exact effort on the last climb and then finished it off with a sprint after a short descent and onto the flat finish.

ABOUT THE DIG DEEP COACHING 3 WEEK GRAND TOUR

The 'Dig Deep Coaching 3 Week Grand Tour,' is a Zwift virtual replication of the Tour de France which will allow people to participate and understand the demands of what it's like to ride for 3 weeks, over variances of intensity and durations. We are doing each stage as Group Rides so you will be able to enjoy the experience with many others who will take this challenge. We have looked at each individual stage and devised workouts that's comparable to the effort which the actual riders will be taking on during the Tour. We have used our expert knowledge and many hours going through Power Data and stats from previous races, to understand and approximate effort during critical times of each stage. You will be able to feel what it's like to attack on a punchy climb in Brittany, power over the cobbles of northern France and push your limits for long periods of time on Alpine climbs. All of the stages will last between 45 minutes and 1 1⁄2 hrs.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

We have detailed the intensity and durations that are comparable to the demands the riders will be doing during each stage and replicated that into a workout for you to complete each day. You will be able to ride your own Tour de France each day, on the same day that the riders will be tackling the actual race during July. We have picked a role which you will mimic each day. You will take on a persona of different types of riders who make up a Grand Tour and in doing so, each stage ridden will always be different than before.

You will have the following role to play during today's stage:

CLIMBER

On the hilly stages you will either be the designated rider going for the win, or you will be helping your GC team leader be in the front. This means you need to be ready for longer climbs, with sustained power efforts to stay in contention. This along with being explosive on the short punchy climbs.

WORKOUT DESIGNER

Dig Deep Coaching is a global coaching company that works with athletes of all levels across the following disciplines: road, track, cyclocross, MTB and triathlon. Whether you are taking part in your first ever gran fondo or aiming to compete in the professional peloton, Dig Deep Coaching can help you out.

For more information, visit: https://www.digdeepcoaching.com/Opens a new window

ABOUT GROUP WORKOUTS

Zwifters line up in the starting area just like a normal event and once the event starts, workout mode begins. Everyone stays together regardless of power output. That's right, if you're outputting 100W and another Zwifter is outputting 400W you will stay in exactly the same position relative to each other. Only if you stop pedaling and fall 6 meters behind the group will the rubber-banding stop.

HELPFUL HINT

We highly recommend doing one of the FTP tests as the estimated FTP can be inaccurate and make the difficulty level of the workouts too high for your current fitness level.

For more info on FTP go to: https://support.zwift.com/hc/en-us/articles/210208083-What-is-FTP-and-how-is-it-used-in-ZwiftOpens a new window