Training plans
Cycling training plan for a sportive, gran fondo or your first 100 km
Cyclists plan in hours, not kilometres. A sportive, a gran fondo, a gravel event or a first 100 km ride all come down to the same few things: enough weekly time, a long ride that grows towards the event, one or two focused sessions, an easier week every fourth and a real taper. Here are the numbers by level, the sessions that matter, an example week and how to set targets in watts or heart rate. At the end: how Keho Coach builds a cycling plan and adjusts it to your recovery.
Short answer
Train for 8–16 weeks, depending on the event and your level. Most amateur events need 5–10 hours a week at the peak. Grow weekly time by about 10 % at most, with an easier week (about two thirds) every fourth week. Build the long ride to about three quarters of the event’s riding time, up to 4–6 hours. Keep most riding easy, add one or two sessions of sweet spot, threshold or VO2max work, and cut volume over the last one to two weeks while keeping some intensity.
Pick the goal first
- Your first 50 or 100 km: no date needed. The plan grows the long ride step by step and ends on the ride itself.
- A dated event: a sportive, gran fondo, century or gravel race. The terrain matters: flat or rolling road, hilly or mountain road, or gravel.
- Getting faster: no event, just steady progress in four-week blocks.
If you have a heart condition or another health problem, or haven’t exercised in a long time, see a doctor before you start.
Weekly hours and the long ride by level
| Level | Peak week | Longest ride before an event | Weekly growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| New to cycling | 4–6 h | up to 3 h | up to 10 % (30 min) |
| Beginner | 5–7.5 h | up to 4 h | up to 10 % (40 min) |
| Intermediate | 7–10 h | up to 5 h | up to 9 % (50 min) |
| Advanced | 9–13 h | up to 5.5 h | up to 8 % (60 min) |
Start from what you rode in the last four weeks. The long ride aims at about three quarters of the event’s expected riding time (closer to the full distance for a first 50 or 100 km) and grows by 15–30 minutes at a time. On two or three riding days it will be half the week or more, which is fine as long as the weekday rides stay short. Every fourth week drops to about two thirds of the week before, with a shorter long ride.
The sessions that matter
Below about four hours a week, one hard session is enough; with more time, two. Riders new to the bike start with no hard work at all: easy rides, spin-ups and rides that finish a little faster.
- Endurance rides: most of your time, at a pace you could chat at.
- Tempo: 2 × 10 growing to 2 × 20 minutes at a steady, purposeful effort.
- Sweet spot: 3 × 8–10 growing to 2 × 20 minutes at 88–94 % of FTP, with about a quarter of the work time to recover.
- Threshold: 4 × 8 growing to 2 × 15–20 minutes at 95–105 % of FTP.
- VO2max: 5 × 2–3 growing to 4 × 5 minutes, recovering as long as the work; experienced riders can alternate with 30/15s (30 seconds hard, 15 easy).
- Climbing repeats and over-unders before hilly and gravel events: 6–10-minute climbs, or 2 minutes just under threshold and 1 minute just over.
- Event pace inside the long ride in the last weeks: tempo blocks late in the ride.
Keep about 80 % of your time easy. The hard share is a choice: around 10 % for an easy plan, 20 % for a balanced one, 30 % for a challenging one.
Example week in the build phase
One example week for a 100 km sportive, about five weeks out. Not a full plan.
| Day | Beginner (3 rides, ~6 h) | Intermediate (4 rides, ~8.5 h) |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | Rest | Rest |
| Tue | Sweet spot: 3 × 10 min, 1 h 15 min | Threshold: 4 × 8 min, 1 h 30 min |
| Wed | Rest | Endurance 1 h 15 min |
| Thu | Endurance 1 h 15 min with spin-ups | Sweet spot: 2 × 20 min, 1 h 30 min |
| Fri | Rest | Rest |
| Sat | Rest | Recovery spin 45 min |
| Sun | Long ride 3 h 30 min | Long ride 3 h 30 min with 2 × 15 min tempo late |
| Total | 6 h | 8 h 30 min |
Targets in watts or heart rate
With a power meter or a smart trainer, base targets on your FTP (functional threshold power, roughly the power you could hold for an hour). Without one, use heart rate: on the bike it usually runs 5–10 beats lower than running at the same effort, so cycling zones from a cycling threshold fit better than running zones. Very short efforts, under about two minutes, are best ridden by feel because heart rate lags behind. The heart rate zone calculator works for cycling too, and our guide to Zone 2 training explains the easy end.
Taper and event week
For events of three hours or more, ride about 70 % of your usual week, then about 45 % in event week. For shorter events, one week at about 55 % is enough. Keep the intensity: shorter sessions, fewer reps, the same targets. Two days out, a short ride with a few hard openers wakes the legs up. After the event, take an easy recovery week.
When to change the plan
- Poor sleep or low HRV for several days: turn the next hard session into an endurance ride.
- Training load jumping: if your last week is far above your usual, hold rather than add. Training load explained.
- Feeling unwell or a niggle: ride easy, short or not at all, and build back over a few days.
- Missed rides: carry on from today. Don’t stack missed hours onto the next days.
How Keho Coach builds and adapts your cycling plan
- Choose Your first long ride (50 or 100 km), Get faster (rolling four-week blocks) or Ride an event with its date and terrain. Pick your level, how many days you ride and which weekdays.
- Keho starts from your last four weeks of riding in Apple Health and builds every week with the rules above: hours by level, the long ride’s own curve, an easier week every fourth, a taper sized to the event.
- Targets come in watts from your FTP (entered, or the newest one in Apple Health), otherwise as a cycling heart-rate band, with a perceived effort beside them.
- Rides go to your Apple Watch with power or heart-rate alerts. If you ride a smart trainer, weekday rides can go indoors; the long ride and the event stay outdoors.
Nothing changes on its own. Check-ins (feeling unwell, a niggle, travel) keep a ride a ride and adjust the week, and when your readiness, HRV or training load point to a tougher week, Keho offers options that only reduce load, always including “Keep as planned”. You can add up to two yoga practices a week, placed around your long and hard days. Cycling plans are part of Keho Coach ($24.99 a year), week 1 is readable before you subscribe, and your health data stays on your iPhone.
Common questions
How many hours a week do I need for a sportive or gran fondo?
Most amateur events are well covered by 6–10 hours a week at the peak. A first 100 km ride works on less, around 5–6 hours, if the long ride grows steadily.
How long should my longest ride be before the event?
About three quarters of the event’s riding time, up to 4–6 hours depending on level. The adrenaline, the group and the food stops cover the rest.
Do I need a power meter?
No. Heart rate and perceived effort are enough to train well; power makes the short, hard sessions more precise.
Sources: Bosquet, L. et al. (2007), “Effects of tapering on performance: a meta-analysis”, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 39(8); Rønnestad, B. R. et al. (2015), “Short intervals induce superior training adaptations compared with long intervals in cyclists”, Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports 25(2). General information, not medical advice.