REGULAR RIDER, CLASSIC CHALLENGE
One-day Classics are arguably the toughest races on the professional cycling calendar. They are long, relentlessly undulating, and many of them include sketchy, bone-clattering cobbled and gravel sections. As this Classics season approached, I pondered what it would take for a regular rider like me to ride such a course – and what I might learn in the process.
Right on cue, an email came through suggesting I ride the Gran Fondo Strade Bianche, a 148km sportive the day after the pro race, using many of the same roads. In fact, it’s almost exactly the same course used by the WorldTour women’s race, including 51km of white roads, i.e. gravel sections, with more than 2,600m of climbing. Gulp!
How to prepare?
Thankfully, I wouldn’t be the only -affiliated rider providing a point of comparison with Tadej
