Reducing your training load ahead of a race or event is widely considered a tried-and-tested training technique across endurance sports, but do the studies align with the demands of road cycling? Cyclingnews and JOIN assess the art of tapering
(Image credit: Getty Images/Future/Illustration by Michael Rawley)
More than a decade ago, when I was a semi-professional cyclist, I prepared for every race in the same way. For each one-day race, I usually completed a solid five-hour training session three days in advance, incorporating race-specific efforts. Two days beforehand, I did absolutely nothing, and the day before, I rode for an hour at the slowest possible pace with no more than three sharp sprints. Fortunately, there weren’t too many e-bikes around yet; otherwise, every cyclist of the older generation would have passed me by.
The only thing that changed towards the end of my cycling career was that I built a bit more intensity into the warm-up ride the day before a race: a progression, for example, building up over seven minutes, starting at 250 watts and ending the last minute just above my FTP at 400 watts. The rhythm of the last three days remained the same. In fact, my taper never lasted longer than two days, and I always trained for approximately 20 hours per week right up until three days before a race.
At most, for a stage race, I would move the intense training session to a day earlier, but that was more for logistical reasons, such as team presentations and travel days, than to incorporate extra rest. It was a routine I never doubted. It provided peace of mind. It struck the perfect balance between training long enough to stay fit and getting just enough rest to be fresh enough at the start.
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Yet science suggests a different recommendation. In a 2003 meta-analysis by Wang and colleagues, the consensus is that a taper period of one to two weeks is most effective for cyclists, during which volume decreases by about 40 to 60 per cent, but intensity and training frequency remain the same. This differs not only from my own taper routine but also from that of many professional cyclists.
A well-known example is Dylan van Baarle, who won Dwars door Vlaanderen in 2021 after a 50-kilometre solo breakaway. The very next day, he completed a six-hour-long training session in preparation for the Tour of Flanders three days later. Now, this is an extreme example, but not as uncommon in the pro peloton as you might think. In my current work as a professional cycling coach, among other things, we often follow a pattern similar to what I did myself as a rider: a tough race-specific workout or even a race three days beforehand, a light ride the next day, and activation the day after that. It’s a tried-and-tested rhythm that works for many riders.
Van Baarle training on the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix during the 2021 Classics campaign (Image credit: Bas Czerwinski/Getty Images)
For Grand Tours, there is indeed a slight reduction in training volume in the last five days before the start, if only because of travel days and all the obligations such as interviews, presentations, and medical checks. An important difference between science and practice in professional cycling is, of course, the level of the cyclists. Although the cyclists included in the study were primarily 'well-trained' riders with a VO2max of around 4.5 L/min, this level is still somewhat different from that of professional cyclists.
A pro racer doesn't just recover faster from strenuous exertion than the average person, but must also continue to train extensively for longer periods due to the high level of performance. This is called reversibility, which describes that an extremely well-trained body must continue to work hard to maintain that level. If you do too little, the level doesn't remain the same; it declines.
However, an even bigger difference lies in the types of tests used to study the effectiveness of tapering. Much of the research on tapering measures the effect on shorter time trials or so-called time-to-exhaustion tests. The longest test used was a simulated 40-kilometre time trial. Not a single study looked at performance in races lasting four to six hours. And that is exactly what road cycling is all about: the ability to still perform deep into a race, in other words, fatigue resistance. Freshness is nice for a prologue or a short time trial, but in a road race, it doesn’t help much if your endurance has dropped.
In fact, especially after a stage race when the next race is coming up soon, riders often train harder than you’d expect right up until the next race to keep their legs engaged. The logic is simple: a body that has just performed at a high level for a week is accustomed to exertion. Remove that exertion too abruptly, and the system breaks down. Too much rest can backfire, and on race day, there may not be enough activation to get the legs going again. This is, incidentally, a natural method that can only be used for a short time, because you’re borrowing from the future.
Stephan Seiler, the renowned Norwegian sports scientist, also places tapering at the very top of his pyramid of needs for endurance athletes. This means that the correct taper is the least scientifically substantiated. As a result, personal experience and an individualised approach are crucial.
So you have to figure out what works for you. Tapering is not a rest period. It is the final stage of your preparation and requires just as much thought as the weeks leading up to it. For cyclists in particular, protect your endurance fitness, especially when the goal is not a 20km time trial. Maintain the intensity in your program, and find a routine that suits you. Experiment with warm-ups; don’t be afraid to give your body a quick wake-up call the day before the race, and remember that science provides the framework, but your own legs have the final say.
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Jim van den Berg is the CEO and co-founder of JOIN.cc, an AI-powered cycling training platform. Prior to launching JOIN in 2019, Jim raced as a semi-professional for two Dutch UCI continental teams, before turning his attention to coaching cyclists, including WorldTour pro Taco van der Hoorn, and supporting the World Hour Record attempts of Thomas Dekker and Dion Beukeboom. Jim also has a degree in Human Performance Science and a master's degree in Sports & Exercise Psychology.
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