Maraton Franja BTC City Training Plan & Preparation

Course & Elevation

The Maraton Franja time trial runs 21.2 km from Ljubljana to Domžale and back. Riders roll off at the Crystal Palace in BTC City, head out through Šentjakob, Podgorica and Dragomelj to a turnaround in Domžale, then retrace the route to the finish. With just 68 metres of climbing and roughly 83 percent of the distance flat, this is a pure power course: no climbs to break the rhythm, no descents to recover on, only sustained speed across the lowlands northeast of Ljubljana.

The time trial opens the Franja weekend, which also hosts the 156 km Gran Fondo and the 97 km Medio Fondo. It is part of the UCI Gran Fondo World Series and serves as a qualifier, so you race the clock and an international age-group field at the same time. Maraton Franja has been organized by cycling club Rog since 1982 and is considered the sports event with the longest tradition in Slovenia; more than 150,000 cyclists from over 80 countries have taken part across its editions.

There is nowhere to hide on this course and no wheel to follow. The rider who can hold the highest steady output for the full distance wins.

Pacing Strategy

A flat time trial of this length turns on a single quantity: constant power. Over 80 percent of the course is level, with no climb to gain time on or recover on — speed hangs entirely on wattage and riding position. The most common error is too aggressive a start, because the legs feel fresh; the acidosis built up there noticeably slows the second half. From the first kilometre ride an output you can hold evenly all the way back to Ljubljana, and stay consistently aero — on level ground, position buys more seconds than any brief surge.

At the turn in Domžale watch for a possible change in wind direction and adjust your effort rather than forcing the pace. The day is decided by clean, even threshold output over the full distance, not by peaks of speed.

12-Week Preparation

Plan for an effort of roughly 28 to 40 minutes depending on your level. This is a textbook threshold race: on a flat out-and-back there is no climb to set the pace and no descent to recover on. You ride at or just above threshold from the start ramp to the line, and every pacing error shows up directly on the clock.

Three sections decide the result. The opening kilometres, where most riders start too fast and pay for it on the way home. The turnaround in Domžale, where you brake, turn and have to accelerate back up to race speed from nearly a standstill. And the return leg, where the real task is holding your aero position as neck, back and legs fatigue.

Training should be built around threshold work: longer intervals at or near goal race power with short recoveries, ridden increasingly in your time trial position. Give your body several weeks to adapt to the aero position, because fitness you can only express sitting upright is wasted here. Practise the restart after the turn with short accelerations from low speed, and ride the full race distance at least once as a dress rehearsal with power or heart rate control. For an effort this short and intense, a structured warm-up routine is part of the preparation, not an afterthought; you need to be at full output from the first minute.