Tour de France Climbing Tips

Professional road cycling, namely the three big European tours (Giro d’Italia, La Vuelta and, of course, le Tour de France), puts the spotlight on skinny athletes with ridiculous endurance.  Ascending strongly is a critical skill for these all-stars as well as recreational riders who pedal beyond level bike paths.

Three techniques help them – and you – survive and thrive while riding uphill.

1) Shift in anticipation of the hill ahead.  Before the road tilts severely, pros increase their cadence as they shift.  Instead of standing on the pedals during long climbs, mashing down to generate power, they’ll push RPMs first.  When they’re ready to make up lost time, pass other riders or extend a lead, they’ll shift and stomp on the pedals for 100-250m.

2) Stay in the saddle longer.  Even at grades above 6%, the seated riding position is the most sustainable over long distances; when pros stand, it means the incline is serious.  Amateur riders need to get comfortable with smooth pedal strokes – and greater wattage output – by sitting up slightly and maintaining strong posture to keep the chest open for hard-working lungs.

3) Come out of the saddle strongly.  Follow along on TV and you’ll see that pro riders are not lifting and lowering with high frequency; they get up and stay up.  Amateur riders are prone to this kind of oscillation.   An up-and-down style doesn’t encourage rhythmic breathing and does less than imagined to clear lactic acid from legs. Doing out-of-the-saddle hill repeats with shorter recovery periods is an effective training strategy. 

Climbing with confidence is a skill to be learned.  The joy of cresting a summit – sometimes ahead of the peloton – is worth the effort

Photos by: Radu Razvan / Shutterstock.com