Very impressive! Congrats on finishing it, and thanks for sharing! I did the La Marmotte this year and really the scenery in this part of the Europe is incredible. Now I am thinking about the TdMB next year. I am just starting with the prep for the next season with mainly riding on Zwift, so time will tell 🙂
Well done Sami! You finished in a great time, especially considering you had nothing in your stomach for the last two climbs - very impressive. I’m going to register for Tour du Mont Blanc 2025 and I would love to emulate your time. I was wondering if you could outline a brief overview of your training for Tour du Mont Blanc? Thanks in advance.
@JayKay-dt1ld: I’m trying to share briefly a generic description of my training for TdMB. Last year I did Tour des Stations Ultrafondo “Everest” race in Verbier ~240km/8,900m+ and TdMB was the next logical step for similar challenge. The experience gained from TdS was very useful when preparing for TdMB . I’m 48 year old average Joe as a cyclist, and my biggest asset is a good aerobic shape and I can work in Z3 (i.e., just above aerobic threshold) for very long time, but I’m lacking high wattage. I have a 4-year experience in cycling after having a knee surgery and stopping trail running. However, I've been living athlete life during my free time since I was a kid. In 2023 I trained well and logged 700h even though I had a knee surgery, and I had to stay out of sports for one month. My goal for year 2024 was to increase my performance as a cyclist and I reduce my training volume focusing on improving my power production capability in short intervals. I have a strength coach, and we planned two strength workouts per week: one at gym and one at home. My weekly rhythm has been such that I have two off-bike days per week (Mon & Fri) when I did the strength trainings. In terms of my weekly training hours, my training load has been modest in 2024 (12.5h). I did so many high intensity workouts in the winter and I had to cut my training volume. In the early summer, I was ill twice within four weeks, and it was very frustrating considering that TdMB was just two months away. I have regularly done 2-3 intensive trainings per week this year and the focus has been shifting over 4-6 week training periods. I registered for TdMB late on 20-April as I was hesitating all winter should I participate in the event or not. I did all the climbing workouts for TdMB on smart trainer in my living room because the tallest hill where I am living (Helsinki) is 65m high. I didn’t have a chance to do cycling camps at the mountains because I was too busy at work. Occasionally, I added the one-hour climbing trainings (Z3-Z4) on trainer after an endurance ride on bike, just to have a flavor of climbing in the end of endurance rides. On 19-May, I participated in Nove Colli (188km/3,600m+) in Italy which simulated half distance of TdMB. It was particularly useful for fueling point of view and I was able to test my home-made energy gels in real action. The event also gave me insights how much wattage I could use during the 7h race. I had a pretty good hunch in what kind of shape I should be at TdMB. Besides TdS, I have done vEveresting10k and I knew that I need to be in good enough endurance shape and be mentally strong. I knew that if the fueling strategy during the endurance workouts was at sufficient level, I could spend long time on the bike. Besides generic training I had two specific workouts serving the key requirements of the TdMB; endurance, mental strength and fueling. 1) On 8-June, I did a long virtual climbing training on Zwift where I did 5 long climbs with cumulative ascent of 6,000m+ (2x Mt Ventoux, 2x Puy de Dome & Alpe du Zwift). In the climbing workouts I always used trainer difficulty 100% and 100% or 125% grade in virtual climbing portals. I personally feel that the 100% difficulty on trainer is harder than the same grade in real life if altitude and ambient temperature are ignored. The workout included also some Z4 work and the total time was 7.5h. This was just right kind of sweet spot of physical-mental training where I experienced tiredness and boredom during multiple challenging climbs. I was rather tired (but happy) after the workout knowing that I didn’t have to push further. Why did I only 6,000m+ and not 8,000m+? The 6,000m+ is the typical point where I have typically questioned self-confidence. I know that if I mentally pass this crux, I can climb much more after freeing my mind from worries. 2) On 23-June, I did a long ride 345km/3,000m+ (11.5h riding time) from home mostly alone, except the last 70km). The whole point was to do most of the ride alone and spending all day on the bike with my own thoughts. I called this training “mental” as the whole purpose was to drive me to the point where I start to wonder if I can make it until the end. I’m seeking for moments where I feel that the kilometers start to roll awfully slowly, and time slows down. During these moments I must figure out how to entertain myself for many hours (without listening music). Listening of music is not safe on the road and moreover it is the last resort for boosting mind; so better leave it for the tough moments 😅 This ride boosted my self-confidence, and I trust that I can make it through a hard day at TdMB despite having small issues. During the last two months I did two kind of higher intensity trainings during each week: 1) Short VO2max intervals at Z5 zone and 2) climbing workouts on trainer increasing power towards end of the workouts. The VO2max workouts served multiple purposes and all of them were 3min/3min where the intervals were intentionally kept short but there were many repeats. The purpose was to improve the level of available oxygen for my body’s internal processes, i.e., to increase the oxygen available for aerobic energy production towards TdMB. The improved VO2max would presumably also serve me well at high altitudes. The short 3-minute Z5 intervals did not completely empty my tank, and they allowed me to do other heavy climbing workouts and long rides on my bike. The only thing that I overlooked in my opinion was the rather high altitude on the TdMB route. I didn’t believe that the altitude had such an impact on me although based on the historical experiences I haven’t performed well at high altitude without proper acclimatization. I think that it was the long exposure and relatively increased power levels along the altitude increase (I tried to maintain fixed wattage in climbs). My muscles or endurance were not the limiting factors this time and I felt surprisingly good in the last climb (at lower altitude) compared to the three previous long climbs with thinner air. I had to admit that I was listening music in the last climb to raise my spirit; I saved it to the end 😀 Anyways, I made if happily to the finish line and avoided ending up to hospital due to energy deficiency and dehydration. I hope that I managed to give you an idea how I prepared to TdMB. It is obvious from my video that TdMB is a challenge that shouldn’t be underestimated in any respect.
@@samivahanen8139 Thank you so much for your detailed response Sami. You’ve given me some great tips that I will definitely use in my preparation. I’ve completed a 300km/5,000m ride and also a 180km/5,000m ride this year, so I have some experience in training for long events, but nothing like the Tour du Mont Blanc which I see as the next step up, so your advice is invaluable. I’ve climbed at 2,600m elevation this year with no noticeable ill effects or decrease in power, but it was just one climb with about one hour ride time above 2,000m+, so I hope that’s a good sign. One final question if you don’t mind. Which do you consider more difficult and why, Tour du Mont Blanc or Tour des Stations? Thanks again.
@@JayKay-dt1ld: I consider TdMB more challenging because the climbs are longer the cols are at higher altitudes compared to TdS. My longest climbs in TdS were between 70- 80 minutes and the average length of the climbs was 60 minutes. The highest point at TdS was about 2,000m and I didn't have much of issues with the altitude. My body was very sore after finishing TdS compared to TdMB because I pushed harder towards the finish. In the end the answer comes down to personal preferences such as whether one likes steeper or less steep climbs. If I were to do one of these events again, I would probably choose TdS :-)
Very impressive! Congrats on finishing it, and thanks for sharing! I did the La Marmotte this year and really the scenery in this part of the Europe is incredible. Now I am thinking about the TdMB next year. I am just starting with the prep for the next season with mainly riding on Zwift, so time will tell 🙂
Good luck with the preparations; train well! 👍
Well done Sami! You finished in a great time, especially considering you had nothing in your stomach for the last two climbs - very impressive.
I’m going to register for Tour du Mont Blanc 2025 and I would love to emulate your time. I was wondering if you could outline a brief overview of your training for Tour du Mont Blanc? Thanks in advance.
@JayKay-dt1ld: sure, no problem. I can give a short overview of my training. I will get back to this within a week.
@JayKay-dt1ld: I’m trying to share briefly a generic description of my training for TdMB. Last year I did Tour des Stations Ultrafondo “Everest” race in Verbier ~240km/8,900m+ and TdMB was the next logical step for similar challenge. The experience gained from TdS was very useful when preparing for TdMB
.
I’m 48 year old average Joe as a cyclist, and my biggest asset is a good aerobic shape and I can work in Z3 (i.e., just above aerobic threshold) for very long time, but I’m lacking high wattage. I have a 4-year experience in cycling after having a knee surgery and stopping trail running.
However, I've been living athlete life during my free time since I was a kid.
In 2023 I trained well and logged 700h even though I had a knee surgery, and I had to stay out of sports for one month. My goal for year 2024 was to increase my performance as a cyclist and I reduce my training volume focusing on improving my power production capability in short intervals. I have a strength coach, and we planned two strength workouts per week: one at gym and one at home. My weekly rhythm has been such that I have two off-bike days per week (Mon & Fri) when I did the strength trainings.
In terms of my weekly training hours, my training load has been modest in 2024 (12.5h). I did so many high intensity workouts in the winter and I had to cut my training volume. In the early summer, I was ill twice within four weeks, and it was very frustrating considering that TdMB was just two months away. I have regularly done 2-3 intensive trainings per week this year and the focus has been shifting over 4-6 week training periods. I registered for TdMB late on 20-April as I was hesitating all winter should I participate in the event or not.
I did all the climbing workouts for TdMB on smart trainer in my living room because the tallest hill where I am living (Helsinki) is 65m high. I didn’t have a chance to do cycling camps at the mountains because I was too busy at work. Occasionally, I added the one-hour climbing trainings (Z3-Z4) on trainer after an endurance ride on bike, just to have a flavor of climbing in the end of endurance rides.
On 19-May, I participated in Nove Colli (188km/3,600m+) in Italy which simulated half distance of TdMB. It was particularly useful for fueling point of view and I was able to test my home-made energy gels in real action. The event also gave me insights how much wattage I could use during the 7h race.
I had a pretty good hunch in what kind of shape I should be at TdMB. Besides TdS, I have done vEveresting10k and I knew that I need to be in good enough endurance shape and be mentally strong. I knew that if the fueling strategy during the endurance workouts was at sufficient level, I could spend long time on the bike. Besides generic training I had two specific workouts serving the key requirements of the TdMB; endurance, mental strength and fueling.
1) On 8-June, I did a long virtual climbing training on Zwift where I did 5 long climbs with cumulative ascent of 6,000m+ (2x Mt Ventoux, 2x Puy de Dome & Alpe du Zwift). In the climbing workouts I always used trainer difficulty 100% and 100% or 125% grade in virtual climbing portals. I personally feel that the 100% difficulty on trainer is harder than the same grade in real life if altitude and ambient temperature are ignored. The workout included also some Z4 work and the total time was 7.5h. This was just right kind of sweet spot of physical-mental training where I experienced tiredness and boredom during multiple challenging climbs. I was rather tired (but happy) after the workout knowing that I didn’t have to push further. Why did I only 6,000m+ and not 8,000m+? The 6,000m+ is the typical point where I have typically questioned self-confidence. I know that if I mentally pass this crux, I can climb much more after freeing my mind from worries.
2) On 23-June, I did a long ride 345km/3,000m+ (11.5h riding time) from home mostly alone, except the last 70km). The whole point was to do most of the ride alone and spending all day on the bike with my own thoughts. I called this training “mental” as the whole purpose was to drive me to the point where I start to wonder if I can make it until the end. I’m seeking for moments where I feel that the kilometers start to roll awfully slowly, and time slows down. During these moments I must figure out how to entertain myself for many hours (without listening music). Listening of music is not safe on the road and moreover it is the last resort for boosting mind; so better leave it for the tough moments 😅 This ride boosted my self-confidence, and I trust that I can make it through a hard day at TdMB despite having small issues.
During the last two months I did two kind of higher intensity trainings during each week: 1) Short VO2max intervals at Z5 zone and 2) climbing workouts on trainer increasing power towards end of the workouts. The VO2max workouts served multiple purposes and all of them were 3min/3min where the intervals were intentionally kept short but there were many repeats. The purpose was to improve the level of available oxygen for my body’s internal processes, i.e., to increase the oxygen available for aerobic energy production towards TdMB. The improved VO2max would presumably also serve me well at high altitudes. The short 3-minute Z5 intervals did not completely empty my tank, and they allowed me to do other heavy climbing workouts and long rides on my bike.
The only thing that I overlooked in my opinion was the rather high altitude on the TdMB route. I didn’t believe that the altitude had such an impact on me although based on the historical experiences I haven’t performed well at high altitude without proper acclimatization. I think that it was the long exposure and relatively increased power levels along the altitude increase (I tried to maintain fixed wattage in climbs). My muscles or endurance were not the limiting factors this time and I felt surprisingly good in the last climb (at lower altitude) compared to the three previous long climbs with thinner air.
I had to admit that I was listening music in the last climb to raise my spirit; I saved it to the end 😀
Anyways, I made if happily to the finish line and avoided ending up to hospital due to energy deficiency and dehydration. I hope that I managed to give you an idea how I prepared to TdMB. It is obvious from my video that TdMB is a challenge that shouldn’t be underestimated in any respect.
@@samivahanen8139 Thank you so much for your detailed response Sami. You’ve given me some great tips that I will definitely use in my preparation. I’ve completed a 300km/5,000m ride and also a 180km/5,000m ride this year, so I have some experience in training for long events, but nothing like the Tour du Mont Blanc which I see as the next step up, so your advice is invaluable. I’ve climbed at 2,600m elevation this year with no noticeable ill effects or decrease in power, but it was just one climb with about one hour ride time above 2,000m+, so I hope that’s a good sign.
One final question if you don’t mind. Which do you consider more difficult and why, Tour du Mont Blanc or Tour des Stations? Thanks again.
@@JayKay-dt1ld: I consider TdMB more challenging because the climbs are longer the cols are at higher altitudes compared to TdS. My longest climbs in TdS were between 70- 80 minutes and the average length of the climbs was 60 minutes. The highest point at TdS was about 2,000m and I didn't have much of issues with the altitude. My body was very sore after finishing TdS compared to TdMB because I pushed harder towards the finish. In the end the answer comes down to personal preferences such as whether one likes steeper or less steep climbs. If I were to do one of these events again, I would probably choose TdS :-)
@@samivahanen8139 Thanks Sami! 👍🏻