Cycling tips from Mr David Millar ahead of this year’s MR PORTER Nocturne London.

This Saturday 9 June, around 500 bicycle-riders will gather for the MR PORTER Nocturne London, an annual cycling event held in London’s city centre. Although it attracts pro-cyclists such as Olympic gold-medallist Mr Ed Clancy, Nocturne plays host to everything from penny-farthing races to folding bike events – and it is free to attend.

If you’re a keen cyclist taking part in one of the fixed-gear criteriums – where riders cycle laps on a flat circuit – we expect you are already in fine fettle. However, if you’re planning to enter next year, you might need some help getting in shape.

With this in mind, we spoke to former professional road racer, CHPT3 cycling brand co-founder and Style Council Member Mr David Millar (who, in his 17-year career, won four stages of the Tour De France) and asked him for some tips. Below is his guide on getting into shape, from training to diet, for a competitive criterium lasting an hour or less.

For more information on this year’s MR PORTER Nocturne London, click here

“You can practice on fixed trainers in a gym,” Mr Millar says. “By doing that, you can control the effort and pedalling cadence a lot more, and see your heart rate and power output. And you won’t have any interference from junctions, traffic lights and other real-life training obstacles.

“You can also get a turbo trainer you can fix on to your bike, allowing you to practice at home. And with a multi-player game such as Zwift (search online for it), you can simulate real-world races and rides in your own front room.”

“Being race-fit requires some specific training. When you race you’re exerting yourself, through intense bursts of cycling, in ways you would never do in a normal ride. So you need to replicate those efforts. You should start training around a month before your race. Do a three-week training cycle, overload your body, then take your foot off the gas, de-fatigue and allow your strength to build back up.

“Your ‘tapering’ period, where you are doing active recovery, should be five or six days before the race. The race itself won’t last long: the longest ones at Nocturne last for either 45 minutes or an hour. You don’t need to train any more than three or four times a week, for around an hour each session.

“It is all about interval training. Your rides should involve small, intense efforts with recuperation periods. Start off by doing longer efforts – 10 minutes at a really high pace, for example, where you can hear yourself breathing hard. Then take it easy for five minutes, then do 10 minutes again. Do that three times.

“Keep everything short and sweet – or not so sweet, as the case may be. You’ll feel as if you’ve done two or three hours because you’ve worked so hard. Split your training up into different rides – each tapping into a different type of energy system that you’re trying to engage.

“On another ride, you could try some 200-metre sprints. The most important thing is you teach yourself to do things that you wouldn’t usually do and you push yourself really hard.”

“When you’re doing high-intensity training, you’re not burning fat, you’re burning glycogen. It’s different to long endurance races, where you have to keep your weight down. A criterium is a flat race, which is short. The biggest concern is how fast you can go. You need power. So you don’t need to be too neurotic about your diet.

“You want to eat lots of carbs so that you have glycogen in your muscles, allowing you to go for longer. Eat lots of carbs the night before or on the morning of your training sessions. Think pasta and rice; simple stuff, really. A bowl of cereal is also good.

“Three hours before your race, you should have a ‘race meal’ – which might be pasta and chicken or an omelette. No vegetables. You need to give it chance to metabolise and turn into glycogen so it’s not sitting in your stomach.”

“Make sure your bike is working perfectly. It’s worth getting it serviced beforehand. Make sure you’re wearing proper kit, too – everything should be super-tight and aero [see our recommendations below]. Learn the course, too – you don’t want to make mistakes. Look at a map of the route. This will help you stay relaxed.”

“It might sound obvious, but when you’re racing a criterium, stay near the front. The moment you start relaxing, you’re out of the race. Always be very aware of what’s going on. A lot of people get carried away with adrenaline and race stupidly. Pinpoint who’s around and who’s strong, and keep an eye on them.

“Remember not to head out too early. Just sit near the front and make sure nothing gets away. If something’s dangerous, go with it. It’s all about economising the effort. When you do go, make it count. If you haven’t got a strong sprint, then you’ll have to make a break away from the peloton. If you have got a strong sprint, you’ll need to make sure nobody gets away so you can keep up. Adapt your tactics to what you’re good at.”

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