Cycling and Gran Fondo: events and preparation
The header artwork is illustrative and does not show an official race route.
Endurance cycling includes one-day road gran fondos, shorter fondo routes and multi-stage mountain-bike races. Use this hub to choose an event, prepare for distance and climbing, understand your training and find our event guides. Always check the organiser’s current route, entry requirements and regulations before booking.
Choose the right challenge
- Road gran fondo: a long one-day ride where climbing and time limits matter as much as distance.
- Shorter fondo: fewer kilometres can still be demanding on a hilly course.
- Multi-stage MTB: technical terrain, navigation, mechanical skills and recovery between days add another dimension.
Before entering, compare distance, elevation, surface, cut-off times, permitted support and any licence or medical-document requirements. Do not compare average speeds across these formats as if they were interchangeable.
Prepare for a cycling event
Build consistency
Start from the hours you already tolerate. Add longer rides gradually, keep easier days for recovery and later practise the event’s terrain and climbing. Avoid turning every weekend into an all-out test.
Use power and heart rate in context
FTP can guide power zones, but one number cannot predict how you will perform after hours on the bike. Track sustainable effort, perceived exertion, heart rate and how you finish longer rides. Without a power meter, heart rate and feel also help, with care in heat and fatigue. The training-zones calculator and our Spanish FTP guide provide background; the latter focuses on triathlon.
Practise fuel, equipment and safety
Test food, drink and clothing on long rides rather than experimenting on race day. Needs vary by duration, conditions and tolerance. Check brakes, drivetrain, tyres and essential repairs; ride descents and groups with safety in mind. For stage MTB, practise consecutive days, loose terrain and navigation.
Cycling events and guides
These cards distinguish road from MTB. The linked guides are in Spanish. Illustrations are decorative and do not document the official routes. Organiser details checked on 3 October 2026: Quebrantahuesos, Mallorca 312, La Perico and Titan Desert.
Before choosing: Quebrantahuesos described a 200 km Gran Fondo and 85 km Treparriscos for 2026. Mallorca 312 lists 312, 226 and 167 km for 24 April 2027 from Platja de Muro. La Perico offers road routes from Segovia; check the next edition. Titan Desert Morocco is a multi-stage MTB race, not a one-day road gran fondo. Details can change by edition.
Guides awaiting verification: L’Étape España and Vuelta a Mallorca Cicloturista remain available in Spanish, but a current event edition has not been confirmed.
Turn rides into a plan
Look at several weeks of riding, recovery, climbing, nutrition and how you feel at the end of long sessions. If you connect Strava with IronBuddy, you can receive an analysis of your activities to help interpret training. The optional PRO plan and its current terms are on the plans page.