400 training hours so far this year and 30 hour weeks: Strava reveals how the pros prepare for the Tour de France

Strava has released exclusive data, highlighting what it takes for male and female pro cyclists to train for the Tour de France, which is starting this Friday on July 1.

Aggregated and anonymised training data of 36 competitive cyclists riding in either the men’s Tour de France or the inaugural Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2022 is said to reveal how male and female pro riders have prepared for their respective prestigious competitions. 

These stats are based on training data logged from January to June 2022, and only include training rides tracked on the social fitness tracking cycling app. 

Pro cyclists, on average, recorded over 400 hours on the bike in individual training hours so far this year, with some riders clocking as much as 600 hours since January.

With the Tour just around the corner, some riders are now riding for over 30 hours each week, adding up to over 1,000 kilometres ridden per week. 

The total elevation gained by the pro riders during their training in 2022 is over 180,000 metres - that’s the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest over twenty times.

Male and female pros have individually burned over 350,000 calories. Strava puts this into context: “This is comparable to burning the calories that would have been consumed from eating over 4,500 French macarons or 1,500 croissants.”

The longest individual ride recorded this year was just over 300km (186 miles), which we’d hazard a guess that was probably Milan-San Remo - rather than an individual training ride. Still, it’s significantly longer than the longest stage in this year’s Tour de France is 220km, Stage 6’s Binche to Lonwy.

This exclusive data builds on Strava’s aim to provide engaging and informative content for its users to follow the excitement of each stage of the iconic race, with this year being the first of a three-year partnership between Strava and the Tour de France and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

Strava announced earlier this year that it will be maintaining a Tour de France 'content hub' inside the app which will be “dedicated to telling the story of the riders through their daily activity uploads and photos.”

The race hub will be providing breakdowns of each stage’s segments and “insights into unique athlete experiences”.

In 2021, 72% of cyclists uploaded their race efforts to Strava and 62% of stage wins in the 2021 Tour were uploaded to Strava.

This year’s Tour de France will take place from July 1 - 24, 2022 and the inaugural Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will take place July 24-31, 2022.