Turbo Training for Sportives

If you like to participate in sportives, then turbo training can be a great way to get fit for the events you want to do well in. Obviously turbo training does not and cannot take the place of long road riding in getting you fit, but when the weather is bad, it can be a great way to keep fit when you mates are pigging out next to the fire!

Turbo trainers have all sorts of fancy aids that you can use to train with – virtual reality and other tools are selling like hot cakes, and it’s no wonder... when else could you pre-ride famous alp climbs before you do it for real.

Virtual reality turbo trainers can be very useful to the keen sportive rider. Tacx do the Fortius and i-Magic trainers and there is even a multiplayer option which allows you to race other people via an internet link. If you are training for one of the European etapes, then using a virtual reality system will definitely pay dividends, not only is it cheaper than pre-riding the real thing, you’ll push hard and know each and every corner by the time of the event.

Many of the more expensive trainers come with readouts – these cover power output, cadence, heart rate, speed and others which can often be downloaded for analysis at a later date.

If you don’t want to spend so much money, there are training dvds which can be used to create (on a budget) the tools available to wealthier riders. They require you to think a bit more, but can be very useful and are definitely worth a look in!