The Road World Championships in Montréal impressively show how important the right race tactics are. Here is how you can use the strategies of the pros for your own training.
The battle against the clock is considered the most honest discipline in cycling. Anyone who wants to deliver the best performance in an individual time trial or on a fast solo ride needs far more than just pure muscle power. The Road World Championships in Montréal and the preparation races of the pros have impressively demonstrated this. Whether it is perfect pacing, the right cornering technique or mental strength after setbacks – the strategies of the world's best can be excellently transferred to your own road training.
At the World Championships in Canada, the women faced the longest individual time trial in their World Championship history: 39.2 kilometres, which demanded everything from the riders. The German medal winner Franziska Koch, who secured the bronze medal, emphasised according to reports from Radsport-News and Team Deutschland how crucial her pacing plan was. On such a long distance, you must not start too excitedly and waste valuable energy. Koch did start slightly faster than her coach had specified, but was able to manage her strength so that the tank was completely empty at the end.
The Swiss rider Marlen Reusser, who secured the gold medal on her 35th birthday, also demonstrated perfect pacing. During the race, she even overtook the Dutch co-favourite Demi Vollering, who had started 90 seconds before her. Vollering took it sportingly and afterwards analysed the performance data with her coaches to see if she had left any unused energy along the way. For your training, this means: Start your intervals or time trial routes in a controlled manner. If you overpace on the first few kilometres, you will lose a disproportionate amount of time at the end.
A time trial is not only decided on the long straights. The course in Montréal, which partly led over the Formula 1 race track, offered flat sections but was also characterised by extremely technical corners. World Champion Remco Evenepoel outclassed the competition and won with a lead of almost one minute ahead of Filippo Ganna. According to Radsport-News, Evenepoel pointed out that top values on the straights alone are not enough if you do not accelerate optimally out of the many corners. Demi Vollering, on the other hand, noted that she had lost valuable seconds in the corners.
For you, this means: Work on your cornering technique. Braking and then accelerating costs an enormous amount of strength. The more smoothly you ride through a corner, the less energy you have to expend to get back up to cruising speed. Dividing a long route into mental sections – as Vollering did – also helps you not to lose focus.
How important the head is in cycling was demonstrated by Marlen Reusser. After a bitter disappointment at the Tour de France Femmes, she had to completely remotivate herself to conquer the rainbow jersey once again in Canada. Setbacks are part of the sport – the decisive factor is how you start again afterwards.
That you sometimes simply have to trust your own feeling was proven by Mathieu van der Poel at the Tour de Luxembourg. During his historic 174-kilometre solo ride – according to Sportschau and Cyclingnews the longest solo victory of the century – there was originally no big plan. He found himself alone at the front after two kilometres and decided to simply stubbornly ride his own pace and his own wattage values without letting himself be driven crazy by the peloton. When you train alone, do not try to chase unrealistic targets, but find your own, constant rhythm that you can maintain over the planned distance.
Your takeaway: Manage your strength in a controlled way right from the start, divide the route mentally into sections and work specifically on your cornering technique to carry valuable momentum with you.
This article was generated automatically with AI from the sources listed above and has not been editorially reviewed.