On Monday! August 15! 2016! I participated in my third
Ballon d’Alsace criterium in the FFC Pass category.
It had been three years since I had worn an FFC bib! and that was as early
as August 15! 2013.
The weather conditions being optimal this time and well trained
for it since returning from vacation (24/07)! I took the start hoping
to do as well as during my last 2 Ballon d’Alsace  participations (3rd).

Regarding the preparation

since I got back on STRAVA . Overall! the holidays allowed me to
regain muscle freshness. I don’t like to cut off industry email list completely! but 10 very light days Ballon d’Alsace  with a few 1.5 hour outings coupled with a bit of intensity were enough! in my
case! to erase all traces of fatigue from the start of the season. On my return! a
small test ending with a CP4 at 370 W confirmed that I was
maintaining my fitness and maximum freshness. With a MAX HR of 188
pulses reached! it had been a long time since I had climbed so high…
All the indicators were therefore green to get back seriously.
CP 4min: 370w with continuous drift of the to birthday emails have seen conversion rates as HR! still a bit of margin…(5 watts..)
I reworked my strength and endurance with a small
5-day volume block with sprints and outings towards 60% of PMA! then I
moved into strength endurance mode then FTP! threshold power to prepare
for the time trial.
Drop in load/holidays at the beginning of July (purple curve) and balance/recovery in positive (yellow TSB)! then recovery! load and sharpening for August 15.

The last intensive

preparation effort resulted in a good CP18min test reaching around 320 W. I say ‘around’
because my SRM broke down and the old one I reassembled caused cuts in the recording!
lowering the average. The wattage estimate giving 330 W with my favorite calculator ! I removed 10 watts to find my SRM values. It remains a
great time and it is a segment that I improved by 45 s since my last
full-bore test on May 17. In short! in good shape just before the Ballon! always good for morale.
For once! thank you Strava! without the watts only the stopwatch clean email allows comparison (weight! equipment! almost identical weather)

A few days of sharpening later! here is the start
given at 10 a.m. I will be helped by Rodolphe!
there for fun and not playing to win after 3 victories in a row !
giving me a hand to contain the attacks until the foot of the Ballon. Finally
he ensured a very fast tempo until the summit so well that everyone jumped
as we went and we will arrive at 4 for the victory until 300m from the line.