A rest day on the Tour

After 9 stages that required a lot of efforts, energy, and concentration, here is a rest day, well-deserved for the Tour de France riders. Each runner has his own way of handling this day. In this article Geoffroy Lequatre explains to you the specific case that are offered to the riders.

This first week of the Tour was tough for the riders, between falls, high speed, strokes, high gear and a mini Paris-Roubaix to finish the week, the riders were waiting impatiently this day.

Runners have their habits during these days. Their programs: naps, cares, recovery and family, and for other press conferences.

The Tour riders manage their rest day according to their physical freshness, you must know that among all the riders of the pack everyone does not have the same objectives, and therefore the physical efforts are not the same.

Runners who feel fit, will promote a ride in the morning about 1h30/2h am at low intensity to relax the muscles, recognize one or two parts of the next stage. You must not lose the pace. More important than cycling, it is nutrition that must be managed at best, indeed riders follow a physiological pattern throughout these three weeks, so be careful not to break it during rest, not to disturb the rider’s metabolism. Many riders make the mistake of eating too much to get maximum strengths. Important also to take the time to take a nap during this day.

On the other hand, riders who are physically tired, those who have fallen and are injured, no bike for the day. They had to focus on cares, massages, osteopathic session, visit to the doctor to heal any wounds and especially think to eat smart and sleep to re-harmonize the biological clock.

It is important to keep in mind that the Tour de France is the most publicized cycling event in the world, so it’s a lot of media pressure, but also proximity with fans. It is therefore essential for riders to be able to release the pressure for a day, spending time with families is a good way to put aside all this mental load on riders.

A rest day also means press conferences, especially for the Tour’s leaders, who put up a statement of the first week,positive or negative, and start thinking about the important meetings that await them.

Many riders fear the stage after a rest day, lest their organisms be asleep. Especially when you know that the stage that awaits them offers more than 4000m of elevation gain and 4 passes for a first big appointment in the Alps between Annecy- Le Grand Bornand, it is likely that this stage reserves big surprises after 9 days of plain and high rhythm passing from a gear 54X11 to 36X28!