We recently asked Cycling Weekly readers what it would take for them to prepare for the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España. Here are a selection of answers, brought to you in association with BTwin.
What would you suggest is the ideal preparation for riding a Grand Tour? Tell us in the comments section below.
Set off two weeks before the other riders.
Kev Gorringe
Three Shredded Wheat and an early night. And some PEDs and a motor in your bottom bracket.
Neil Batt
Young British riders are at a definite disadvantage to their continental counterparts on this one. There are simply no races on British soil for amateurs that offer anything near the experience of riding a Grand Tour. Britain may lack the Alps, Pyrenees and Dolomites, but we’ve still got some big hills. Where are the climb-filled stage races on British soil that would act as a way of providing experience and a stepping stone to a pro contract and the big races for our young riders?
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A £12,000 bike, a large coach (both types), someone to shout into an earpiece, a ton of food and someone to hold up a banner with my name on it on every climb.
Sandra Johnson
Put your feet up and set it all up to record on the TV.
David Scrivener
Getting a pro contract on a WorldTour team is definitely a good start. This requires you to be quite fit, so I’ve come up with a cunning plan. Persuade a German kitchen appliance manufacturer, Dutch lottery or Belgian pharmaceutical company (or all three) to give you lots of money, start your own team and then give yourself a contract. It doesn’t matter that you’ll finish the first stage of the Giro three hours down… YOU MADE THE START!
Geoff Stephens
A Brooks double sprung saddle and lashings of chamois cream.
Dennis Marsh
A week of cinnamon whirls.
Matt C
I took part in a Grand Tour of the pubs of Norfolk by bicycle many years ago. It didn’t require much preparation, but it took quite a lot of recovery time.
Dave Simmonds
A nice cup of TUE.
Richard Williams
It’s actually hard to imagine for us mortals what riding a tough three-week stage race is really like. Just one stage, ridden slowly, would finish me off. I don’t know what it would take to prepare for such a feat, but hats off to everyone that does.
Richard Burnett
Nerves of steel and a very big breakfast.
Kevin Monk
Getting kicked off a highly popular and long-running BBC programme for doing something stupid. Ah, wrong Grand Tour.
John Pearman
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