Steep climbs and long rides challenge your mind and legs. Pro strategies from Roglic, Pidcock and co. show you how to pace yourself perfectly.
We've all been there: the mountain looms ahead like a wall, your legs are already burning before the first hairpin bend, and your heart rate skyrockets. In moments like these, we tend to tense up and attack or give up in frustration. But a look at the pros in road cycling and mountain biking shows that success on steep climbs and long rides is often decided in the mind – and through smart, tactical decisions.
When the competition accelerates on the climb, the temptation to follow immediately is huge. But that can end fatally. Tom Pidcock provided an impressive example of perfect pace management at the Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole. According to reports from Cyclingnews, Pidcock entered the race with back pain after a training crash. Since he couldn't handle extreme changes in pace, he consciously opted for a different tactic: he stubbornly rode his own pace. This controlled riding style saved him exactly the energy he needed at the end for the decisive attack and the World Championship title.
His rival Mathieu van der Poel, on the other hand, had a bad day and finished far behind in 30th place. Van der Poel noted soberly afterwards: "A mountain bike course doesn't lie." If your legs have no power, forcing it won't help either. For you, this means: accept your form on the day. If you notice your heart rate shooting up too high, take the pressure off the pedals in good time and find your own rhythm instead of wearing yourself out against faster riders.
How important the mental attitude is is also shown by Primoz Roglic. After a serious training accident with a car in the run-up to the Vuelta a Espana, his preparation was anything but optimal. Nevertheless, he fought his way to third place on the tough stage 9 on the Alto de Aitana. According to Radsport-News, Roglic approached the matter with extreme composure. In interviews, he hardly looked at seconds, instead enjoying the beautiful weather and simply accepting that some riders were faster on that day. This mental ease helped him to keep the time loss within limits and to act cleverly in the final, while other riders like Felix Gall blew their fuse too early.
Even if you are usually out on your own or in a small recreational group, you can copy tactical tricks from road racing. At the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, German pro Tim Torn Teutenberg took cold-blooded advantage of his Lidl-Trek team's numerical superiority. As reported by Velo by Outside, he stayed in the slipstream of the competition in the final while his teammates attacked. In the final sprint, he even cleverly used lapped riders as draft providers to save energy before giving it his all in the last 220 metres.
The same principle applies to long group rides: use the slipstream of others to save valuable energy for the final climb. If you constantly ride in the wind, you will quickly find yourself without energy on the mountain.
The pros show how it's done: success on the mountain is a mix of a cool head, honest self-assessment and tactical discipline. The next time you face a steep climb, think of these three basic rules:
Your takeaway: Pace yourself stubbornly according to your own rhythm on steep mountains and don't let faster riders rattle you.
This article was generated automatically with AI from the sources listed above and has not been editorially reviewed.