A Typical Week for a Professional Rider - Ex-Professional BMC Development Ride

We are delighted to have local Swiss cycling legend Valentin Baillifard writing exclusively for Kudos Cycling. A fascinating insight into life on the road as a professional cyclist.

Being a pro rider is not only trying to ride fast, but it is also a lifestyle. I will describe to you what a typical week is like, if the race takes place on a Sunday. The end of every week is different because you adapt each day with your tiredness, goals, the time of the year and when you start the next race.

Monday is recovery day but a key day. I sleep longer than normal. My sleep time is usually 10pm to 8am but if we come back directly after the race I often arrive home really late if the races are in other countries. During the travel home it is impossible to sleep because my body has suffered so much during the day and I can’t just fall asleep easily. When I wake up later, I usually don’t need breakfast and I just have to go for an easy one hour ride and will just have lunch. As it’s a recovery day, the menu is only meat and vegetables. Monday is a key day with the type of food I eat. It is the hardest day because on a recovery day you shouldn’t eat a lot but your body is telling you to eat as much as possible. During the race, your body has burnt huge amounts of calories. On the Tour de France, riders will typically burn about 4,000 kcal on an "easy" stage. Average stages require between 4,000 and 6,000 kcal. Gruelling mountain stages demand calorie burns of 7,000 kcal or more so it’s a lot! To help me recover, I drink a lot of water during the day for hydration, as well as for recovering as fast as possible. During a race you can never drink enough so it’s important to recover over the next few days after a race. During the afternoon I have a siesta, the duration depends on my tiredness. After that I take time to analyse the last race but I also prepare looking at the stats, the course and all the details for the next race so I know exactly which wheels or tactics I will use. I plan my training week and go to the physio for a recovery massage.

Valentin Baillifard

Tuesday is the first training day. It will be an explosive day with power or sprints. After a core training session in the morning, I have a healthy breakfast. My meals for the day will be more protein. Often the training is only for 2 hours but when you finish, your muscles will be destroyed because the goals for these type of training exercises is to improve your fast muscle fibres. Like after every training session, the right food is important for recovery and so lots of protein. If I have meeting with sponsors or media, I will always try to plan it on the Tuesday after training.

Wednesday is a big day. First is core training and after a good breakfast. The riding duration will be about 4h/4h30 with a lot of climbing and PMA exercises. After training it is really important to take care of the recovery. I stick to my schedule and I never change; 5 minutes after training I have some sugar, 10 minutes shower, apply the compression socks, 20 minutes after training a high protein shake, 45 minutes after training some easy stretching, 1 hour after training a full meal. I take some time to download the training on the computer, do the analysis and write feedback for the trainer. Then it’s time for a well deserved siesta.

Thursday is the last good training day. Using the same schedule as Wednesday but training will be longer, 5 hours, with lots of threshold training on climbs. After completing the training plan, I finish like the day before.

Friday is again a recovery day with one or two hours of endurance/easy training. I take care to eat less. After training I take time to plan my travel day. First I take a look at the team travel schedule and check my flight. I plan when I have to wake up and set off from home. I look at the weather forecast and prepare my bag. I wash my training bike (leaving it at home) and prepare it for my come back on Monday. I have a Skype discussion with my psychology coach. Finally, it is time for relaxing.

Valentin baillifard

Saturday is a travel day. I have to be careful to eat healthily and not to get too tired. We are taken to our team hotel and I will go for a short ride with sprints. After travelling my legs are heavy so I have to make sure they feel fresh ready for race day. After a light spin I have a massage followed by a team dinner and an early night.

Sunday is race day. After we wake up, I have a healthy breakfast, have a quick team briefing, final bike prep and then it’s time to fight! I will explain to you in more detail about the race day in my next blog.

After the race it’s a shower in the bus and it’s all about recovering well until we go again.

Blog written by Valentin Baillifard ex BMC Development Team