Granfondo Bra Bra Specialized - Fenix Grand Prix Training Plan & Preparation

Course & Elevation

The route starts and finishes in Bra, tracing a wide loop through the wine country of Langhe, Roero and Monferrato — asphalt roads, rolling crests, tight bends between vineyards. After a flat opening, the first of eight climbs begins at kilometre 23.3, short and still gentle, followed by a second at kilometre 43.9.

From kilometre 49.3 the profile tightens: three climbs between kilometres 49 and 62 follow almost back to back, loading the legs for the first time. Then, at kilometre 77.5, comes the key climb of the whole route — just over five kilometres long and the only one rated category 2, it also marks the race's high point at around 720 metres.

Anyone assuming the hard work is behind them is corrected from kilometre 93: another climb, and at kilometre 113 — barely ten kilometres from the finish — nearly four more kilometres of gradient. Only after that does the road finally drop back to Bra. With roughly a third of the route descending and a real share of steep descents, the Granfondo demands descending skill alongside climbing legs.

Pacing Strategy

The Granfondo has no single decisive gap but two tests roughly forty kilometres apart — and that gap is exactly the trap. The block between kilometres 49 and 62, three climbs in thirteen kilometres, asks plenty but isn't the climb that decides the race: that's the long category-2 ascent from kilometre 77.5, the route's highest point. Riders who spend too much there arrive at it running on empty.

The real trap sits further back. Many expect an easy run-in after kilometre 77.5, but climbs return at kilometre 93 and again at kilometre 113 — just ten kilometres from the line. Let the pace creep up too soon after the big climb and there's nothing left for that final bar. With more than a third of the route descending, the downhills also reward a steady line over constant braking — over-braked corners cost more time here than on the flat.

12-Week Preparation

For the Granfondo's 126 kilometres and roughly 2,500 metres of climbing, ambitious age-group riders should plan on five to seven hours in the saddle, depending on form and group dynamics. The effort is mostly aerobic and rolling: long steady sections broken up by eight climbs that repeatedly demand anaerobic spikes — especially the long ascent from kilometre 77.5, which asks for over five kilometres of sustained intensity rather than short bursts.

Two phases decide the race: the climb block between kilometres 49 and 62, which costs energy early, and — more important for training design — the ability to climb again at kilometre 113 after more than 110 kilometres in the legs. Standard base training prepares riders for the first half of the race but not for climbing late under fatigue.

Training should therefore emphasise long rides with climbing deliberately loaded into the back end: the final hour or two of a long session should include gradient, not just flat kilometres. Interval work on climbs helps too, building the steady power needed to handle the category-2 section at kilometre 77.5 without overcooking it. With more than a third of the route descending and a meaningful share of it steep, technical descending practice — line choice, braking points, cornering while fatigued — belongs in the program alongside pure climbing work.