Gran Fondo ReadyThe 10-week gran fondo training plan for your indoor trainer
Gran Fondo Ready
10 weeks · 3 rides a week · 30–180 min
Get ready for your big day out. Long rides build your endurance, climbing blocks build your strength, and a taper gets you to the start fresh.
Three rides a week. Two climbing sessions build strength, one long ride grows from 90 minutes to three hours, and a taper gets you to the start line fresh.
10
Weeks
3
Rides a week
30–180
Minutes
38 h
In all
01Who it is for
Your big day is coming.
Gran Fondo Ready is for you if you train for a long outdoor event: a gran fondo, a sportive, a 100-mile ride, or a week in the mountains. You can already ride a steady hour, and you have three days a week for ten weeks.
Two midweek rides of 45 to 80 minutes build climbing power, at sweet spot and threshold, often at a low cadence. One weekend ride grows from 90 to 180 minutes. It is mostly easy with climbs, and the hard part comes late, when the legs are tired, just like on event day.
No event, just more power? Take FTP Boost. Racing, not riding? Look at Race Ready.
A date in the calendar
Ten weeks away, or a little more.
Three days a week
Two midweek rides and one long weekend ride.
Time for the long one
Up to three hours, in week 9.
02The science
Strong at kilometer 150.
A gran fondo is not won in the first hour. It is about what you have left in the last. (The zones in full: on the Fit in Four page.)
1. Durability
Fresh, most riders can push hard. The question is how much power you still have after three hours. That is durability, and you train it by putting the effort late: the long rides end with climbs and tempo, when you are already tired.
2. Fuel
Your body stores carbohydrate for roughly 90 minutes of hard riding. After that, what you eat is what you ride on. The plan asks for about 60 g an hour on the long rides. Your stomach can learn more, but only with practice. Work out yours on the right.
3. Climbing strength
Long climbs at a low cadence, like SWITCHBACK at 70 rpm, train strength in each pedal stroke. On a real mountain, with tired legs, you will be glad of it.
4. Pacing
Steady beats brave. DRESS REHEARSAL and THE BIG ONE are event simulations: the same pace, the same food, the same strong finish you plan for the day. 67 % of the plan is easy riding, so the hard parts stay hard.
Your ride
3 h 00
Carbohydrate on the ride
150g
From minute 30, about 20 g every 20 minutes. For example:
2
Bottles of mix
40 g each
2
Gels
25 g each
2
Bananas
about 25 g
Drink too: 1.5–2.3 liters, half a liter to three quarters an hour, more when it is hot. Product labels differ, so check yours.
03Week by week
Base, build, peak, ride.
Two midweek climbing rides and one long weekend ride, every week. Below is every ride as the app draws it: every block as long as it lasts, as tall as its power, in the color of its zone.
Weeks 1–4 · 12 rides · 13 h 45
Base: the long ride starts to grow
Tempo and sweet spot at climbing cadence, a little leg speed, and a long ride from 90 to 120 minutes. Week 4 rests, with three easy rides.
Week 1
Week 1 · Ride 1
VALLEY ROAD60 min
Three tempo blocks at 80 rpm, the cadence of a long climb. The first step toward your big day.
Week 1 · Ride 2
CADENCE CHECK45 min
Zone 2 with a minute at 110 rpm every five minutes. A smooth stroke saves energy on long days.
Week 1 · Ride 3
FIRST FONDO90 min
Your first long ride: ninety minutes with two tempo blocks. Eat about 60 g of carbs an hour.
Week 2
Week 2 · Ride 1
FOOTHILLS65 min
Three 10-minute climbs in sweet spot. The hills are getting closer.
Week 2 · Ride 2
LEG SPEED50 min
Five 2-minute efforts above FTP. A little top end makes the long climbs feel easier.
Week 2 · Ride 3
LONG ROAD105 min
One hour and 45 minutes with three tempo blocks. Practice eating and drinking on the bike.
Week 3
Week 3 · Ride 1
SWITCHBACK70 min
Three 12-minute climbs at 70 rpm. Push a big gear, like on a steep pass.
Week 3 · Ride 2
PUNCHY HILLS55 min
Six short, steep climbs of 2 minutes. Attack each one, then roll down easy.
Week 3 · Ride 3
BIG LOOP120 min
Two hours with three tempo climbs and a strong finish. Save something for the end.
Week 4
Week 4 · Ride 1
EASY VALLEY45 min
Rest week. Thirty easy minutes in the middle. The body grows stronger in the rest.
Week 4 · Ride 2
SPIN OUT45 min
Easy riding with five quick spin-ups. Loose legs, fresh mind.
Week 4 · Ride 3
RECOVERY ROLL75 min
A calm, long ride in zone 2. No climbs today, just time on the bike.
Weeks 5–8 · 12 rides · 17 h 20
Build: longer climbs, longer days
Climbs of 20 minutes at sweet spot, surges near the top, over-unders on a col. The long ride goes from 135 to 165 minutes, and DRESS REHEARSAL practices pacing and eating. Week 8 rests again.
Week 5
Week 5 · Ride 1
LONG CLIMB75 min
Two 20-minute climbs in sweet spot. Find the pace you could hold all the way up.
Week 5 · Ride 2
SUMMIT SURGES60 min
Five 3-minute surges above FTP, like the attacks near the top of a climb.
Week 5 · Ride 3
HALF FONDO135 min
Two hours and 15 minutes with three climbs, each harder than the last. Eat before you are hungry.
Week 6
Week 6 · Ride 1
HIGH PASS75 min
Two 20-minute climbs with a short surge every five minutes, like the steep hairpins of a high pass.
Week 6 · Ride 2
TEMPO TRAIN60 min
Thirty minutes of tempo in one piece. Like riding at the front of a fast group.
Week 6 · Ride 3
HILLY SPORTIVE150 min
Two and a half hours over four climbs. The last one is the longest: pace yourself.
Week 7
Week 7 · Ride 1
THE CLIMB80 min
Three 15-minute climbs in sweet spot: the hardest climbing block of the program.
Week 7 · Ride 2
OVER THE COL60 min
Over-unders on a climb: two minutes steady, one minute over threshold. Three times up the col.
Week 7 · Ride 3
DRESS REHEARSAL165 min
Event day in miniature: two climbs, then a last hour with tempo. Eat, drink, and pace it like the real thing.
Week 8
Week 8 · Ride 1
RESET RIDE45 min
Rest week. Thirty easy minutes in the middle. The big one is coming.
Week 8 · Ride 2
CADENCE CRUISE45 min
Easy riding with a fast-spinning minute every five minutes. Keep the legs light.
Week 8 · Ride 3
STEADY RECOVERY90 min
Ninety calm minutes in zone 2. Endurance without the fatigue.
Weeks 9–10 · 6 rides · 7 h 10
Peak, then the taper
Week 9 is the peak: three times 15 minutes of climbing, and THE BIG ONE, three hours with a strong last half hour. Week 10 is short and sharp, and READY TO ROLL is the day before the event.
Week 9
Week 9 · Ride 1
PEAK CLIMB75 min
Three 15-minute climbs, a little harder than ever before. You are ready for the mountains.
Week 9 · Ride 2
EVENT PACE60 min
Two 15-minute blocks at the pace of your event, then four short kicks for the steep bits.
Week 9 · Ride 3
THE BIG ONE180 min
Three hours, four climbs, and a strong last half hour: the longest ride of the program. Fuel it like event day.
Week 10
Week 10 · Ride 1
FONDO OPENERS45 min
Taper week: three short blocks and three quick bursts keep your legs awake.
Week 10 · Ride 2
PRE-EVENT SPIN40 min
An easy spin with three 1-minute efforts at FTP. Fresh, but not flat.
Week 10 · Ride 3
READY TO ROLL30 min
The day before your event: thirty easy minutes with three spin-ups. You are ready. Enjoy the day!
04Then and now
Long days, then and now.
“Don't buy upgrades, ride up grades.”
No part on the bike climbs for you. The old riders knew it, and the best amateurs today know it too: the mountain is ridden with the legs you built.
1891
1,200 kilometers
The first Paris–Brest–Paris: about 1,200 km on heavy bikes and bad roads, in one go. The long ride is as old as cycling.
Old days
The musette
For decades, riders eat what they can carry or catch: bread, rice cakes, fruit, handed up in a cloth bag at the roadside. They eat when they are hungry, and many fall apart when it is too late.
1970s
The gran fondo is born
In Italy, mass rides for amateurs grow on the roads of the pros. The Nove Colli, nine hills from Cesenatico, starts in 1971 and becomes one of the best known.
Today
Fueling is training
Pros eat 90 to 120 g of carbohydrate an hour in long races, and train their stomach to take it. Riders also train durability: their power late in a ride, when they are tired.
05In the app
Your trainer does the counting.
You don't need a spreadsheet or a coach to ride this plan. Open AnyMap, pick Gran Fondo Ready, and ride the next ride. Here is what happens on the way.
Connect in seconds
AnyMap finds your trainer, heart rate strap and Zwift Click over Bluetooth by itself, and connects again next time.
Devices
KICKR CORE
Trainer · Connected
Polar H9
Heart rate · Connected · 84 bpm
Zwift Click
Controller · Connected
SCAN FOR DEVICES
ERG mode holds the watts
In every block, the trainer sets the resistance for the target. Pedal faster or slower: the watts stay. Here is FOOTHILLS, played fast, at an FTP of 150 W.
ERG · FTP 150 W
FOOTHILLS
90Target watt
Your FTP stays true
After every ride, AnyMap checks your FTP. Ride a new best, and it goes up at once, with every zone. The next ride is already a little harder.
New FTP
156W
+6 W
Your zones moved up. Every workout now uses 156 W.
Watch the weeks add up
Every ride is saved, second by second. Your week shows time in each zone, and your month shows rides, kilometers and time against the month before.
3h 45min
This week
6
Week streak
1417%
Rides
41834%
Km
13h 5021%
Time
Make a ride your own
Copy any ride of the plan into the workout builder and change it. Try it here: tap a block, drag its top for more watts or its side for more time, or tap + for a new block.
New workout · FTP 150 W
My workout
33:3010 blocks
Tap a block to change it, or + to add one.
06FAQ
Before the big day.
Yes, with a plan for it. Ride a real route in AnyMap's world, so the road changes and climbs. Use a big fan, have two bottles and your food on hand, and stand up for a few pedal strokes every 20 minutes. The long rides grow slowly, from 90 minutes in week 1.
Carbohydrate, from the first half hour on: the plan's rides ask for about 60 g an hour. Drink mix, gels, bananas and rice cakes all work. Use the long rides to find what your stomach likes, so nothing on event day is new.
Slower than you want at the start. Ride the climbs at a steady effort below threshold, around 85 to 90 % of your FTP, not in the red. Eat before you are hungry. The riders who pass everyone in the last hour are the ones who held back in the first.
That is the taper. The fitness is built by then; the last week only takes away fatigue. Three short rides with a few efforts keep your legs awake, so you start the event fresh and sharp.
Yes. A long outdoor ride of the same length, mostly easy with a few climbs, does the same job. Keep the midweek climbing rides on the trainer: there, the watts are exact.
Yes. The first ride, VALLEY ROAD, is free, with no account. AnyMap Premium opens the other 29 rides, and every other plan and workout.
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