What the Tour of Britain Can Teach You About Training

Inspired by the Tour of Britain? Take five training lessons from the pros and apply them to your own riding.

The Tour of Britain is a showcase of world-class cycling: fast racing, brutal climbs, breakaways, sprint finishes, and riders capable of producing incredible power when it matters most. 

But behind every attack, every climb, and every sprint is something that every cyclist can learn from: structured training.

You don't need to be racing at World Tour level to train with purpose. Whether you're chasing a new personal best, preparing for your next sportive, working towards a cycling goal, or simply want to become a stronger rider, the Tour of Britain can provide plenty of inspiration.

So, as the 2026 Tour of Britain gets underway, here are five training lessons to take from the pros – and how you can apply them to your own riding with the Wattbike Atom, Proton or Air-Pro, alongside the Wattbike Hub app.

1. Build a strong aerobic engine

Watch the Tour of Britain and one thing quickly becomes obvious: the strongest riders can spend hours in the saddle while still having enough in reserve to respond when the race gets hard. That doesn't happen by accident.

A strong aerobic base is the foundation of cycling performance. It helps you ride for longer, recover between efforts, and maintain a higher level of performance throughout a ride.

For everyday cyclists, that could mean being able to ride further without fading, holding a more consistent pace on a sportive, or simply feeling stronger towards the end of a long ride.

Include regular endurance and steady-state sessions in your training. These don't need to be maximal efforts – consistency is key.

Try it in Wattbike Hub: Head to the Cycling section in the Wattbike Hub app to find endurance-focused workouts designed to develop your aerobic fitness. Look for sessions that challenge you to sustain an effort over a longer period, helping build the engine you need for long days in the saddle.

For a more race-specific challenge, try the Breakaway Stage workout. It puts you through changing efforts designed to replicate the demands of a race situation – perfect for adding some variety to your endurance training.

Wattbike Hub gives you access to structured workouts and training plans designed around different goals, so you can build your fitness with a clear purpose rather than simply riding harder every time.

2. Get comfortable riding at threshold

From long climbs to attacks and breakaways, Tour of Britain riders repeatedly spend time riding at high intensity.

One of the key abilities behind this is being able to sustain a strong effort without going completely into the red. That's where threshold training comes in.

Threshold work can help improve your ability to sustain a challenging power output for longer – useful whether you're trying to hold the wheels on a climb or push for a new personal best. 

Structured threshold intervals allow you to control exactly how hard you're working and for how long. With Wattbike Hub, you can choose workouts based around your goals and track metrics such as FTP and heart rate to see how your fitness develops over time.

Read more in our guide on how to test function threshold power (FTP).

The aim isn't simply to make every ride harder. It's to make the right rides count.

3. Train your climbing legs

Few things capture the drama of the Tour of Britain quite like a climb. The riders have to combine power, endurance and pacing to tackle steep gradients after already spending hours on the bike. And you don't have to be chasing the KOM to benefit from climbing-specific training. 

Improving your ability to produce sustained power on an incline can make a huge difference to everything from local hill climbs to long sportive routes.

Try incorporating sustained climbing efforts, hill repeats and seated or standing intervals into your training. Training indoors gives you one major advantage: consistency. You can repeat the same effort at a controlled intensity without traffic, junctions, or changing weather getting in the way.

Try it in Wattbike Hub: Head to the Climb workouts and take on some of the virtual climbs available in the app. And if you want to get closer to the action, take on Michaelgate. The infamous Lincoln climb features on Stage 1 of the 2026 Tour of Britain, with riders tackling it five times on the final city circuit. 

Find the Lincoln GP Michaelgate workout in Wattbike Hub and see how you handle one of the most recognisable climbs on this year's Tour route.

Wattbike Hub includes climb-focused workouts alongside structured sessions, giving you a way to target the demands of climbing from home.

4. Add high-intensity efforts

The Tour isn't won by riding at one speed. Watch closely, and you'll see constant changes in pace: attacks, accelerations, breakaways, short climbs, sprints, and efforts to close gaps.

Being able to respond to those changes requires more than endurance. You need the ability to produce high power when the pace suddenly changes.

High-intensity intervals can help develop your ability to produce short, hard efforts and recover before doing it again.

That could mean VO₂ max intervals, short anaerobic efforts, or sprint sessions, depending on your experience and goal. The important thing is to give those sessions a purpose and allow enough recovery around them.

With Wattbike Hub, you can choose from structured workouts designed around different aspects of performance, rather than having to build every session yourself.

And if you're using Hub+, the Workout Builder allows you to create and personalise your own sessions using intervals, ramps and building blocks, with targets based on FTP, heart rate, cadence and duration.

5. Recover well – and stay consistent

Perhaps the biggest lesson from professional cycling isn't how hard the riders train.
It's how consistently they train.

A professional cyclist's season is built around balancing hard efforts with recovery. You can't perform at your best every day.

The same applies to your training. Rest days and easier sessions allow your body to adapt to the work you've already done. They also help you arrive at your next hard session ready to perform.

Think about your training as a complete week rather than judging every individual ride.
Hard sessions should be hard. Easy sessions should be easy. And rest should be part of the plan.

Structured training plans can make this easier by giving each session a purpose and building progression into your training. Wattbike Hub plans include designated workout and rest days, helping you understand not just what to do, but when to recover.

How to Train Like a Pro with Wattbike Hub

You don't need a professional team's support staff to bring more structure to your training.
Wattbike Hub puts structured training, workouts, and performance tracking in one place.
You can:

Choose a training plan around your goal

• Follow structured workouts
• Track metrics including FTP, heart rate, and W/kg
• Monitor your progress over time
• Work on specific areas such as endurance, intensity, and climbing
• Build personalised workouts with Hub+

That means less time wondering “What should I do today?” and more time focusing on the ride.

Take inspiration from the Tour. Make it your own.

Build your aerobic engine. Improve your threshold. Work on your climbing. Add some intensity. And, perhaps most importantly, train consistently and give yourself time to recover.

Because the biggest lesson from the Tour isn't necessarily about how fast the pros can ride. It's about what structured, purposeful training can help you achieve. 

Ready to find your edge? Explore Wattbike Hub and start training with purpose.

FAQs

Can I train like a professional cyclist?

You can certainly adopt some of the principles used by professional cyclists, including structured training, progressive overload, targeted intervals, and planned recovery. Your training should always reflect your own fitness, experience, available time, and goals.

Can I improve my cycling fitness indoors?

Yes. Indoor training provides a controlled environment where you can target specific power, heart rate, cadence, and duration targets. It's particularly useful for structured interval sessions where consistency matters.

What is the best training for cycling endurance?

A combination of consistent riding, endurance sessions, and appropriately structured higher-intensity work can help develop cycling fitness. The right balance depends on your current fitness and goal.

How can Wattbike Hub help with cycling training?

Wattbike Hub provides structured workouts and training plans, alongside tools for tracking your performance and progress. Hub+ also includes additional training content and the ability to build personalised workouts.

Can I use Wattbike Hub if I'm not a professional cyclist?

Absolutely. Wattbike Hub is designed around different goals and fitness levels, so you can choose training that's appropriate for where you are now and where you want to go.