6-week Spring BADLANDS gravel training plan

If you’re an intermediate cyclist targeting the Badlands Gravel Race and coming out of winter ready to step things up, this 6-week plan is designed to kick-start your spring training and move you toward the specific demands of one of the toughest gravel races in the world. It’s the ideal transition phase to rebuild rhythm, lift fitness, and establish the durability and resilience required for the extreme terrain of southern Spain.

Who’s it for?
This training plan is aimed at intermediate gravel cyclists who have a solid base of fitness and are ready to begin a more purposeful build toward Badlands. Whether you’ve trained consistently through winter or are just finding your rhythm again, this plan provides structure and direction at exactly the right time of year. Importantly, it’s written by a Badlands finisher, shaped by real race experience and a deep understanding of what the event demands physically, mentally, and logistically.

Is it for you?
This plan assumes you’re comfortable riding both indoors (such as Zwift) and outdoors, and happy blending structured quality sessions with longer endurance rides as daylight and weather improve. It’s ideal if you want to transition smoothly from winter training into more event-specific preparation without burning out, while rebuilding aerobic fitness, strength, and durability. The focus reflects the realities of Badlands: huge elevation gain, long remote gravel sectors, relentless climbing, heat exposure, and extended time riding self-supported through areas such as Granada province, the Gorafe Desert, the Sierra Nevada foothills, and the harsh badlands terrain that gives the race its name.

What’s involved?
The plan builds progressively over 6 weeks, carefully balancing structure with flexibility to support consistent progression. Each week works across the key training zones, using indoor sessions for precision and efficiency alongside outdoor rides to develop endurance, climbing strength, fatigue resistance, and real-world gravel skills. There is a strong emphasis on aerobic conditioning, sustained tempo and sweet-spot work, long steady efforts, and efficiency under fatigue; all crucial for handling Badlands’ endless climbs, rough tracks, exposed terrain, and cumulative load of back-to-back big days.

The goal isn’t to peak during these six weeks. Instead, it’s to come out of this block fitter, tougher, and more confident, perfectly positioned to move into the final, more specific Badlands preparation phase ready for big heat, big elevation, and very long miles in some of the most demanding gravel terrain in Europe.