4-week Winter Gran Fondo Stelvio Santini training plan (Zwift compatible)

If you’re an intermediate cyclist targeting the Gran Fondo Stelvio Santini, this plan is designed to help you use the winter months wisely, keep fitness progressing, and arrive in spring ready to build with confidence. It’s the ideal bridge between winter consistency and the specific demands of long, sustained alpine climbing.

Who’s it for?
This training plan is aimed at intermediate cyclists with a solid fitness base who want structure and direction through the winter. Whether you’ve come off a busy season, taken a short reset, or simply want a clear focus for next year, this plan helps you maintain momentum while laying the foundations for the long climbs and sustained efforts of Stelvio.

Is it for you?
This plan assumes you’re comfortable riding both indoors (e.g. Zwift) and outdoors, and happy combining structured quality sessions with longer endurance rides. It’s ideal if you want to stay consistent without burning out, keep variety in your training, and gradually rebuild aerobic fitness, muscular endurance, and pacing control, all essential for extended climbs at altitude.

What’s involved?
The plan builds progressively over 4 weeks, balancing structure with flexibility. Each week you’ll work across the key training zones, using indoor sessions to develop controlled threshold and sweetspot power, alongside outdoor rides to build endurance, strength, and real-world pacing skills. There’s a strong emphasis on sustained efforts, aerobic efficiency, and fatigue resistance; key qualities for tackling long alpine ascents like the Stelvio, Mortirolo, and Gavia.

The goal isn’t to peak now; it’s to come out of winter fit, motivated, and well prepared to transition into more specific Gran Fondo Stelvio Santini training as spring approaches.