What Does It Take To Do A Stage Race?

Two of our Tailwind Athletes, Sonya Looney and Ellen Campell are no strangers to time in the saddle! From multi-day races on mountain bike to long, muddy races on a gravel bike  in the midwest. 

This year, they’ll both be riding Breck Epic: a 6-day mountain bike race held in and around the backcountry surrounding Breckenridge, CO. Each stage begins and ends in town, allowing racers to stay in one place for the entire event.

In general, the race is 220-240 miles long and ‘features’ roughly 40,000′ feet of vertical gain (and loss!) Courses get tweaked from year to year as new trails get built, decommissioned or authorized.

Q: What was the first stage race you ever did and what was the biggest thing you learned? 

Ellen - My first proper stage race was the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder, a 5 day gravel race in Bend, OR. It was one of the biggest, challenging races I’ve done to this day. I learned a lot about myself and what it feels like to push your body that hard for so many days in a row, but my biggest take away was to be patient and kind to yourself no matter how you feel each day! 

Sonya- My first stage race was…drumroll… Breck Epic! I raced it as a co-ed duo in 2010, and I won it as a solo racer in 2011. Since 2010, I have done more than 45 stages races in 20+ countries! The biggest thing I learned is not to judge how you feel and to keep going with an optimistic (and realistic) attitude. We are so much more capable than we think. It’s the moments that we overcome self-doubt and prove can are tougher and stronger than we think that mean the most! I also love the camaraderie of stage racing. You get to spend 5-10 days with the same group of people and forge unshakable bonds that would not happen in a 1-day race!

Q: What does training for an event like this look like? 

Ellen - For me, training for a 6-day mountain bike stage race includes a lot of volume over intensity. I just try to spend a lot of time doing 3-4 hour rides back to back so that when we get to the race my body is used to riding day after day. 

Sonya- Training for stage racing is about stacking longer rides, practicing your recovery process, and also doing some sweet spot intervals. Your high end gets shaved off in a stage race, so being able to endure hard-ish efforts (over all out efforts) every day helps you be successful. I usually do 3-4 day blocks of 3-4 hour days with one or two days of sub-threshold and tempo intervals. Breck Epic also has hike-a-bike, so training with some hiking is beneficial. Everyone trains differently, but spending time riding trails is also important for efficiency. You can save energy when your mental and technical ability are regularly practiced! 

For this year’s Breck Epic, I wish I could say I have followed my training advice but the reality is that I haven’t trained nearly as much as I like due to life being very busy. I am a professional rider, but I also have my own business with multiple hats and 2 young children. I am doing my best to be consistent, but I need more rest because your body doesn’t just need to recover from training, it needs to recover from life. Stress is stress. I wanted to share this tidbit not as an excuse, but to show that you can still show up and do your best with imperfect preparation. Most people are not professional riders- they have jobs, families, and commitments. They cannot train 3-4 hours a day for several days in a row. My advice is create a training schedule that is sustainable and fun, and make your goal to show up and have a meaningful experience!  That is guaranteed at the Breck Epic!

Q: How does a stage race work? 

Ellen - Basically a stage race is a multi day event, typically with 3 or more days. Each day you compete (somewhat similar to a single day event) for a time, and then your time accumulates so by the end of the stage race the person with the lowest time wins. 

Sonya- Stage racing has two objectives: the daily races (i.e., stages) and the overall. People will race for “stage” results and they race for overall results. The overall is the sum of every stage. Some people have goals to save their energy and try to do extremely well in just one stage where others will aim for the overall.  Doing well in the overall at a stage race is more than being the fittest rider; it’s race craft, consistency, equipment, recovery, and making smart choices (knowing when to push and when to hold back).

Q: Can you take us through how you fuel and recover on a daily basis for something like this? 

Ellen - Fueling and recovering are the basis for any multi day event like Breck Epic. The main goal I would say is to consume as many calories as you can after each day of racing to optimize recovery. Ideally, I will take in about 70-85 grams of carbs per hour during each hour of racing and then after the race is over I will focus on getting my recovery drink mix in immediately and then follow up with a good amount of protein and carbs in to refill the stores of glycogen. Basically, no matter what you will be in a deficit in terms of fuel so the goal is to reduce the deficit as much as you can. 

Sonya- Recovery is king! First- don’t bonk in the race. That will haunt you for days! Make sure you practice your race nutrition before race day. I take a high carb approach, consuming 60-90g of carbs per hour. At altitude (especially if you do not live at altitude), you need more carbs per hour than lower elevations. You also need to train your gut if you are not accustomed to high carb race nutrition. I also bring fig bars if I feel hungry in the race and always have a bottle of water on hand with no Endurance Mix in it. I also have Recovery Mix every day as close to the finish after the race, and sometimes have a second serving later. Eating is huge part of recovery. I aim to eat healthy high calories foods. Eating clean helps you recover faster, so don’t shy away from anti-inflammatory foods (most plant-based foods)! 

Q: What advice would you give someone interested in giving a stage race a go? 

Ellen - My advice to anyone curious about doing a stage race would be to start small with a 3 day event to see how it feels to race multiple days in a row. I would also say eat lots and enjoy the journey. Doing a multi day event is really hard but also really special; push yourself, test your limits and see what you can do! 

Sonya- Do it! It’ll change your life! Pick a location you like, go with friends, commit to a sustainable training program, and remember, the race is the celebration of your hard work. Stage racing unlocks a deeper layer of who you are that impacts you in every area of your life! You will experience extreme highs and lows, and that is what makes it special. You’ll meet people and connect on a deeper level. For more practical details, here is a pdocast I recorded on how to train for a stage race: https://sonyalooney.com/how-to-prepare-for-a-mountain-bike-stage-race/

If anyone has any questions at all, email me on my website. I’m here for you!

Q: Any goals for this year’s race? 

Ellen - My main goal for Breck Epic is to enjoy it. Simple as that. It will be my first time racing this event and I’m looking to absorb as much of the high country, singletrack goodness as I can. There are 62 women registered for the race this year (a record for any mountain bike race in the US) and I’m looking forward to lining up for this big challenge with so many speedy women. 

Sonya - This is my 5th Breck Epic and I’m excited to be there. I don’t have any performance goals other than to have fun, enjoy meeting new people, and savor it all. I’ll be racing as best as I can and having a blast on some of the best adventure loops! The Breck Epic is a race, and it’s also symbolic. It was my first stage race in 2010. In 2022, it was the first stage race I did after having kids. I have raced the Breck Epic the last 3 years after a long hiatus from doing other races- my daughter was only 5 months old, then she was 17 months old last year, and this year, she’ll be 2.5! My son is almost 4.5! It’s a fun rite of passage to have my kids with me at this race over the last 3 years and have my parents come to the race as well. I am also the co-founder of the Women’s Cycling Summit and this is our 2nd year! I’ll be running the event after stepping off the race course ever day. The race is about adventure, social impact, family, the racing career in stage racing that it catalyzed in 2010, and my community in Colorado! It’s hard to pin down a goal because this race is more than a goal- it’s a feeling and a big part of my story!

Cover Photo of Sonya Looney by John Gibson