Go Long: Pro Secrets to Crushing Big Rides.

This September, MAAP is inviting riders around the globe to share a moment. We’ll come together to push as many kilometres as we collectively can, with riders around the world united in our aim to lap the planet. 

Whether you join in a group ride organised out of your local MAAP LaB, or set off solo for 12 hours and see how far you can go, the Equinox Experience is all about pushing back the horizons. 

To build hype and help you lay the groundwork for your epic endurance endeavours, we wanted to speak to the team and staff of GreenEDGE Cycling. Competing in the men’s and women’s WorldTour, athletes on Jayco AlUla and Liv AlUla Jayco have plenty of insight into what it takes to go long.

This is how the pros – and the support staff around them – prepare for huge efforts.

A professional cyclist at the top echelon of the sport will usually train with a couple of key events in the season that they are targeting.

This can vary a lot based on a rider’s role within the team. If they’ve got a viable chance of winning a monument, they’ll focus more heavily on the spring, then maybe switch to a support role for the stage racing that follows in summer. 

A climbing domestique might aim to peak for a specific week of a Grand Tour, in order to have their leader’s back come the Alps. 

Whatever their goals, the athlete will work along a programme, devised by their coach, to help them get into peak condition just in time for their targets. How much they ride and the type of sessions they do should all flow out from the programme. 

Aussie rider Amber Pate has been competing in the Women’s WorldTour since 2023. For her, a regular training week involves nearly a full day spent on the bike. 

“For me, I’m on the bike about 22 hours a week. A couple of weeks ago I had a nice block: Monday was 4.5 hours with efforts building from tempo through to over-unders, Tuesday was a long endurance ride that turned into 6.5 hours and 182 km, Wednesday was a short recovery spin plus gym, Thursday I travelled to altitude so it was just 1.5 hours easy, and then Friday and Saturday were endurance rides of five to six hours before another recovery day. That week was 22 hours 40 with nearly 12,000 metres of climbing.”

The time in the saddle, plus those epic climbing numbers really underscore the huge step up when you go pro.

“At the end of that week I actually felt quite good,” Pate says. “I always rate how I’m feeling out of ten for my coach – zero is dead, one is in hospital – and I was a 7.4, which is a nice place to be after a big week.

“The difference now compared to when I started is consistency. A lot of people could do a 22-hour week, but can you do it week in, week out? That’s the real difference.”

Paul Double is a British climber who signed for the team this season and rode his first Grand Tour in May at the Giro. Unlike many young riders who followed a more traditional route into the WorldTour, he was self-coached for the first part of his career. 

“When I first moved to Italy, I was probably training 15 hours a week,” he says. “These days it’s more like 20 to 25 hours a week, year-round. It’s a lot more specific and scientific now – back then I was just doing my own thing.

“Even then, I’m not the guy in the team doing the most hours. I think particularly if you’re a diesel engine, those guys are doing even more.”

For Paul, the process of learning how his body responds to training loads is an ongoing process. These days he has access to GreenEDGE’s staff of elite coaches. 

“I’d say I’m still learning and adjusting as I go. The coaches know their stuff, so I follow what they say – but at the same time, I have to give my feedback, tell them how I’m feeling, and together we work out what’s best. 

“Before I was coached, I went more by feelings – and I was more on the cautious side. I was scared to overtrain.”

While very few amateurs can fit 24 hours of cycling into every week, that doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from adding some structure to your Equinox Experience preparation. If you have three weeks to prepare, aim to have that middle second week be the highest time on the bike – then back things off a little prior to the week of the 20 - 28 September, to give your body a chance to rebuild and adapt to the training load. 


In collaboration with MAAP Athletes worldwide, we’ve developed training guides to help strategise your stamina, fuel your nutrition, and keep you riding strong from sunrise to sunset.

Some old bike racer once said, “The Tour de France is won in bed.” What he meant by that was rest is integral to an athlete’s performance.

Peter Leo is one of the GreenEDGE Cycling team coaches. He works with between six and eight of the team’s athletes each season, steering them through their training so they can hit the start line at full strength.

“The biggest difference between amateurs and pros isn’t training more,” he says. “It’s resting more. Pros can maximise recovery because their lives are tailored for being elite athletes. Amateurs have a 40-hour work week, plus family, plus training – that adds a lot of stress.”

And how do the athletes he works with utilise rest within their training programmes?

“Rest is individual. Some want a full day off – probably one day a week. Others prefer a three-day block, rest day; two-day block, rest day. Others prefer an easy day, a recovery spin. When you go really hard on volume – 30 hours plus a week – it’s smart to add a full rest day. Those with very high race days enjoy a proper off-season of two to three weeks off the bike.”

Paul adds a thought on ‘tapering down’ before a big target. Be that a major race, or tackling 200km as part of the Equinox Experience.

“I used to think you should cut the hours and keep the intensity before a race. But I’ve learned it’s actually the hard efforts that really drain you. You can still ride plenty of hours [before a target ride] at low intensity without burning out.”

As you train for the Equinox Experience yourself, remember to build rest into your own schedule. It’s no good piling on the training load and coming into the weekend itself burnt out and lacking energy.

Nutrition has become one of the defining pillars of modern professional cycling.

Laura Martinelli is a nutritionist on the GreenEDGE Cycling support staff. She spoke about the huge impact nutrition and hydration can have on a rider’s training and racing. 

“Being properly fuelled allows your body to get as close as possible to – and sometimes overcome – its physiological limits. Being properly fuelled doesn’t mean you will not suffer anymore on the bike, but you will suffer reaching higher results, higher performance.”

While being able to ‘go deep’ in training is part of life as a professional athlete, it’s counter productive to run your engine on empty all the time. 

“It really depends whether we’re talking about the old-school riders or the newer generation,” says Martinelli. “The old-school guys were used to really pushing their bodies to the limit, often under-fuelled, both on and off the bike. Especially in the winter preparation phase, they would train on very little food and use heavy wheels, almost starving themselves to build resilience. Then in the competition phase, it was the opposite – they would eat more and use lighter equipment. It was a very polarised approach.

“By contrast, the younger generation of pros rarely experience that kind of under-fuelled training. Nutritional approaches have completely changed, and most riders fuel properly almost all year round – 11 or 12 months – even enjoying good food on holidays. Starving the body is largely a thing of the past, and if it happens, it’s usually by mistake rather than design.”

Amber Pate reinforces this idea, stressing how strong you feel when the tank is full.

“The biggest [nutrition] lesson I’ve learned has been understanding the requirements of my body and how it responds. I’ve tested the limits of how many carbs I can consume while staying healthy and happy – and it’s way more than people imagine. Restriction is never the answer. When you get fuelling right, you feel like you can keep going all day. Your legs might be sore from the efforts, but energy-wise you’re still strong.”

It’s important to figure out your own nutrition strategy early on. You don’t want to be experimenting with a new brand of energy gel on the day of your big Equinox ride. Try to mix and match a bit in preparation, so that you have a good idea of what works for you.

In the days leading up to a big ride, preparation can really help calm the nerves. Coach Peter advises breaking down the route you’ll take in advance. 

“For a 200km ride, you want to progress up to that distance: 80, 100, 140, 160, 180, then 200. Ride at a comfortable, sustainable intensity and fuel well – eat enough carbs, drink, take regular breaks. Plan it on Komoot or Strava, know where the climbs are, where you can rest and refuel, where the coffee stop is. 

“I would also say if you’re not experienced at this kind of distance, do it with friends; I wouldn’t recommend 200km solo for the first time!”

Even when the tank is full, the programme is on-point and the athlete is remembering to rest, performance can still plateau. 

Peter Leo explained his approach when a coached athlete starts to stagnate in their training.  

“When a rider hits a plateau, you need to find a goal that excites them. Variety also avoids stagnation. You can micro-adjust their program: different cadences, different intensity blocks. Do the same intervals on an uphill stretch instead of flat, or change modality from the road bike to mountain bike or time trial bike. Maybe introduce heat work or the gym. Always keep the dose-response in mind and manipulate the dose so the athlete adapts.”

Of course, the coach has a big part to play, but the riders themselves also like to keep things fresh. After all, they’re humans not robots – and doing the same thing over and over can sap the joy out of anything.

Double explains that different rules apply for professional athletes and for amateurs.

“At this level, training is work, so you get out and do it [even when you’re not motivated]. But if you’re self-coached and really not feeling it one day, it’s better to take a rest than force it and crack yourself. Balance is the key.”

“I’m really strict with my training, but it’s so important to sometimes shift your mindset and do an ‘adventure ride’,” adds Pate. “You come home feeling like you haven’t even trained, but you’ve still done 23 or 24 hours that week. 

“Recently I’ve done gravel, hike-a-bike sections, my biggest-ever elevation in a single ride – those things keep it fun and fresh.”

This goes for the tough days in competition too, says Double. 

“I think you need to remember you’re doing it because you want to, so just enjoy it and don't stress if it's not going quite right.

“In my first Giro, the second week really hit me – I was in the box. But I kept looking for positives: the kids at the roadside, the smiling faces, the little moments. Even if it’s not perfect, you’re doing something amazing and you can be proud of that.”

The Equinox Experience is set for 20 - 28 September, when riders all around the world will be seeking to make the most of 12 hours of daylight to ride further than they have before.