Over the first two weeks of February, some of our Ride Revolution athletes headed to Xàbia, Spain on the coast of the Valencia region for a pre-season training camp. Split into two parts, with the first week catering to our women’s, development, and elite teams as well as some of our Cat 3 and younger riders, and the second week for our men’s masters, all aspects of the team were represented.

For the duration of the camp we were based at the Blanca Boutique Townhouse in the centre of Old Town Xàbia, cycling specialist accommodation that provided us with everything we could need throughout the stay. In curating this camp, it was important for us to provide our athletes with the full training camp experience, and as such was our main focus. Many of our riders had never been on a camp before, and we were also training as a mixed group of abilities and experience. Naturally, we created a degree of structure with rides each day, however it was equally vital to incorporate down time with a ‘holiday’ feel and social element, which the team at Blanca Bikes enabled us to do so with ease. Aside from providing just comfortable surrounds for riders, all bikes and bike boxes have dedicated storage, fully equipped with washing facilities, and the team were always on hand to provide valuable support with everything from airport transfers to route mapping.

Upon arrival in the first week, our riders eased in with a cafe ride before entering into the more structured part of the week. After fuelling up together at breakfast, the team would split into 2-4 groups depending on the day to do a ride, with the week consisting of 3 days of training rides, a cafe ride day, another 3 days of training rides before heading home. With the area being renowned for its stunning ascents, we naturally made the most of them, including Col des Rates with a side game of “Spot the Pro Rider” on the way up.

The second week, made up entirely of our men’s masters, was instead a 5 ride block. All of our master’s riders are full time working professionals, so this was their opportunity to get a number of hours in, as well as riding together. As a result, the block was largely, if not entirely, zone 2 focussed with 3-4 hour long routes of steady efforts and only the occasional effort. The hills guided the intensity, and the descents our recovery.
Despite the fact that a less than appreciated illness also decided to join in for the duration of the camp, the whole team put in a solid effort, standing them in good stead for the season ahead. Our collective experience at Blanca couldn’t be faulted, and talks are already in the works with hopes to return in the near future.