Coaching: What we can learn from how the pros prepare for steep climbs

When the pro riders hit really still climbs, like the Mur de Huy in today's La Fleche Wallonne, they make adjustments to their bikes, especially with their choice of gears.

Today's La Fleche Wallonne monument classic in Belgium is 205km in length and includes some brutally steep climbing.

The race finishes atop the infamous Mur de Huy; with a back-breaking gradient reaching 26 per cent on one bend.

And the riders must not only blast up it to the finish line, they must scale it on two earlier passages during the race.

In the clip below, Tinkoff-Saxo's mechanic talks us through some of the changes he makes to the riders' bikes especially for races like this with seriously steep climbs.

Firstly, a gearing set-up is added to the tops of the handlebars - where lots of riders hold while climbing - to enable gear changes without riders having to alter the position of their hands back to the brake hoods.

This can be vital in helping a rider maintain momentum in a race where the final climb is over in a flash and where the order of the podium can be settled by a bike length or less.

For those new to cycling or who are less experienced, the cogs on your back wheel are called sprockets in cycling parlance. You can prepare for some serious climbing by having the sprocket or two closest to the spokes a little bigger (with more teeth) than normal.

You will likely never use this set-up on your bike for training, sportives or racing.

But the information in here about gearing is perhaps more useful.

The mechanic says the lowest gear the riders normally use for hilly races is a 39 X 26.

That means there are 39 teeth on the inside chainring – the smaller of the two - on the front.

And the '26 ' relates to the number of teeth on the rear sprocket (or 'cog' for the uninitiated) closest to the rear wheel spokes; the biggest sprocket on the rear wheel.

But for races like La Fleche Wallonne, a 38 X 28 is used; this is a very low gear to enable riders get up that final climb as fast as they can.

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Dan Martin is climbing royalty and a master of the really steep ones, where his explosive power has landed him huge victories. You may never climb like him, but if you are riding sportives with climbing - even modest hills - you need to think of adding some extra low gears to make your like easier, to perform better and to make sure you enjoy the test that climbs pose.

If you are doing more training and/or planning to ride long sportives - especially those with hills - you should be thinking about having some gearing options on your rear wheel that you can use when you hit those ascents.

There is nothing worse than being over-geared and struggling uphill - you should be able to pedal with a reasonably fluid style irrespective of the gradient.

You should seek advice on this from more experienced riders you know, or from your local club.

We published a piece a while ago on gearing and you can read that, and watch the video, by clicking on the headline just below.

Video: How to choose the correct gears for your ability and the types of cycling you do

But it is best to seek out experienced riders familiar with your climbing ability and the events - specifically the hills - you plan to ride in order to get the best advice for you personally.