Anyone who practices mountain biking or competitive cycling often hears this: races are won in winterIt's not a cliché, but a well-established technical truth. It's precisely during the cold months that the foundations of the competitive season are built: basic endurance, neuromuscular efficiency, coordination, and the ability to handle heavy training loads.
Skipping or cutting back on winter training means arriving in spring with a fragile foundation: difficult recovery, fluctuating performances, and a greater risk of injury.
The difficulties of winter
Training in winter isn't always easy. There are two main problems:
1. Weather and few hours of daylight
Cold, rain, or snow often discourage cycling, while short days make it difficult to train outdoors on weekdays.
Technology today offers valid solutions:
- Technical clothing increasingly high-performance and protective,
- Indoor training with smart rollers: reliable, measurable and perfect for working on specific goals.
2. Fluctuating motivation
With races so far away, motivation can wane. A few small changes can help:
- Training in a group
Going out with other bikers makes everything more fun, allows you to extend the laps and maintain a slightly faster pace without falling into a continuous "race". - Review videos of past races
Reliving moments of competition helps keep the desire to improve alive. - Analyzing the previous season
Checking your results, understanding what worked and what didn't, and studying future race calendars are all elements that help keep you focused.
For some, motivation is innate, for others it takes a little more work—and that's fine.
What to really do in winter
The “Base”: the heart of the preparation
The starting point is the construction of a solid aerobic baseLong rides at a moderate pace (the famous “zone 2”) have become central again, thanks also to the most recent studies and methodologies adopted by top professional teams.
These workouts allow you to:
- Improve cardiovascular efficiency,
- Increase your ability to use fat as fuel,
- Build lasting resistance that will allow you to handle more intense loads in the following months.
Strength training
Based on the previous season, functional tests and postural analysis, it is possible to insert:
✅ Endurance strength on a bike
- long climbs at a constant pace,
- low-speed work with long gear ratios.
✅ Gym or free body exercises
To strengthen:
- core,
- posterior chain,
- joint stabilizers.
This reduces the risk of injury and improves pedaling efficiency.
Coordination and technique
In MTB, technique is as important as the engine:
- balance exercises,
- management of technical steps,
- driving on rough terrain.
Training coordination in winter means arriving in spring safer, faster and smoother.
Pace Variations: The Return of Fartlek
Alongside the basic work it is useful to also include sessions with variations in intensity:
- short accelerations,
- spontaneous changes of pace,
- progressive works.
The classic fartlek It allows you to maintain good sensitivity to the different stress zones without yet entering the phase of specific high-intensity work.
How to set progression
During the winter the goal is to increase gradually increase the training load:
- Great space for aerobic base
- Progressive introduction of strength and technique
- Some light intensity stimuli
This way, by the end of January you will have a solid structure on which to start building:
- specific works for the competitions,
- race simulations,
- high intensities.
But this will be the theme of the spring preparation.
Conclusion
The real season starts in winter, not with the first number on the back.
Those who work well now will find it easier in the following months: better recoveries, more consistent performances and more stable peaks of form.
Training in the cold always pays off.
