I convinced my GF to take part in the Etape du Tour Femme event in August. It features 110km with 3500m of elevation gain. Till now we(she) only rode as she liked (which came out at around 80% Z1 /Z2 and the Rest as “the mood choose”.).
So far she made it to an FTP of 3w/kg (Age 39, 52kg). We have a full Indoor and Outdoor Setup with Powermeter.
For the Etape Event she wants to get a bit more serious so I am looking for an easy to follow (I saw Intervals allows for zwo export to Zwift) plan for her.
Ideally around 7h and 5days (so we can ride what we like at weekends on top).
Does anyone have some solid recommendations? There are some many plans and I basically dont have any experience in what to look for.
I am currently working on a tool that can be used to create customized plans.
You enter the desired weekly time (average weekly hours over the whole season).
Then the maximum time per day is queried (not everything is filled in but checked where it makes the most sense)
Then you need the start of the plans (can be today or in the future or in the past (if you have already started somehow).
Then the weekly structure is planned backwards from the competition in order to be at the highest possible performance on the day of the competition with the best possible relief before the competition. every 4 weeks, regardless of the phase, the relief is carried out.
Then the training days for each week are filled with workouts to match the phase.
I currently have a database of over 5000 workouts. (Of course, sometimes only the lengths are different, but there are usually up to 100 unique variants per type, which are then of different lengths). An individual workout is drawn for each day.
Long story short: Would this be something for you? So far my program is completely in German. English and other languages will follow.
I had posted a training question regarding periodization of 2025 with a specific focus and aiming to a specific race in 2026 a few days ago and one user brought ChatGPT up, so I just did ask the AI just4fun the same question I posted here.
To my surprise AI provided a really in depth answer, even providing weekly training plans (on request) and a block structure for the rest of 2025.
Sure, you have to feed AI with sound background data and sure, I am just a training noob, but I would give it a try, it sounded quite reasonable.
ChatGPT is a language model and provides very well-crafted answers - and that makes them quite convincing. But let me share a bit of my experience.
First, analyze the course: it’s 110 km with 3,500 m of climbing — but how is that elevation gain created? Where are the steepest sections, and how long are they?
Then, consider what she’s already capable of. I’m not asking how she’s been training, but what kind of tools she already has: How does she handle challenges? How is her bike handling? Does she tend to be more resistant (more “diesel”) or more explosive (or capable of great effort but with big decline after some time)? This is very important to fine tune volume, resting, intensity, etc. Power data analysis would be crucial but she needs some diverse data.
Things to think about: What are the possible dates for event simulation (and how many, and in what format)? What portion of this training needs to be done indoors, and what should be the character of those sessions? Is it better to keep indoor sessions lighter to save energy for quality outdoor rides, or will the bulk of the construction need to happen on the trainer?
In short, many questions and answers are needed to design a good, efficient, and SIMPLE training plan. She needs context - and a lot of specificity. And above all, everything she values on the bike and enjoys must be respected and preserved!!
That’s going to be critical!
If possible, prepare on similar climbs and deduce what kind of VAM is sustainable for longer periods without blowing up. If you have a good idea on that, start the climbs during the event with some ‘reserve’ and take it up a notch if feeling good when about half way. Don’t get carried away by others who are doing fast starts, chances are that if you’re pacing it good, you’ll pass more then half of them further down the road. Start comfortable and finish strong! And very important for this kind of events, eat and drink on regular schedule to avoid bonking.
