Tomorrow night, we’ll be heading for Switzerland for my own ‘Tour de Suisse 2019’.
After a stopover for the night near Basel, my tour officially begins on Saturday, with a prologue over the San Bernadino (2,065 m) and the Splügenpass (2,114 m).
As that stage is already 90 kilometers long to the summit of the Splügenpass, with 2,600 meters of elevation difference, I will probably have a good idea about where I stand.
In previous posts (part 1 / part 2) I have described the stages I have in mind, which will require every bit of my limited – climbing – capabilities under the best of circumstances.
However, although I’m in much better shape than I was some 4 months ago, I have still not fully recovered from the injuries I sustained in December last year…
While it was good to see my (power) curve go up, since I started training again early March, I’m still some 20 Watts short with respect to my FTP.
Or, since I have adopted the Xert method, I should say with respect to my TP – the two are not interchangeable, although it may be confusing if they are nearly identical, as is the case for some (many?) athletes.
For me, TrainingPeaks calculates my FTP to be 265 Watts, whereas Xert puts my TP at 275. This was 285 and 300 Watts respectively, before my break.
This is not an insignificant drop, but it also doesn’t mean I won’t be able to get up those passes. It’ll just take me even longer…
Luckily, and probably more importantly, I got rid of the access weight I built up during my time off the bike.
I will never be a skinny climber, but my current 74 kilograms are sure as hell easier to haul up a mountain than the 86 I was early March 🙂
Anyway, as is the case with all of my cycling adventures, I’m mildly excited and anxious to see how far I can get this Tour de Suisse 2019.
Which, without the invaluable support of Paula, wouldn’t even be possible at all.
This means I have the luxury of my own team car during my rides, not to mention all the ‘off the bike shit’ she takes care of, besides patching me up for the next day.
Other than some doubts about what I can, or what I cannot, the only thing that can make this tour hard(er) than I have signed up for, is the weather.
I’m not looking at weather forecasts, as they usually do not mean jack shit past the next hour anyway.
And I am used to both extreme heat and limb freezing cold, but I hope for some reasonably good weather, not involving either.
Or lots of rain – I can do without that too…
General “Tour de Suisse” page here.
