CoachingAnswer

HOW DO I BUILD A PRE-RACE ROUTINE?

By Anthony WalshRoadman CyclingUpdated 26 May 2026

ANSWER

Build a pre-race routine that runs the same way every time, so race morning makes no demands on a brain already loaded with nerves. Fix your wake time, breakfast, kit, travel, and warm-up into a sequence you've rehearsed at smaller events first. The routine isn't superstition — it removes decision-making at exactly the moment your judgement is least reliable, and carries you to the start line with energy spent on riding, not logistics.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

A pre-race routine works by removing decisions when nerves make your judgement least reliable.
Every element — wake time, breakfast, kit, warm-up — should be fixed and rehearsed, not improvised on the day.
Test the routine at low-stakes events first; race day is the worst time to try anything new.
A structured warm-up channels pre-race activation into the legs rather than letting it drain into anxiety.

WHO THIS IS FOR

IS THIS YOU?

The rider who unravels on race morning

Your training is solid but the chaos of race-day logistics leaves you frazzled and flat before you've even started.

The first-time racer or sportive rider

You don't yet have a system, and the unfamiliarity of the morning is eating energy you need for the event.

THE ROADMAN VIEW

Anthony has watched riders with brilliant numbers fall apart before the flag drops, and it's almost never the fitness. It's the morning. Wrong breakfast time, forgotten kit, a frantic warm-up squeezed into a car park with ten minutes to go — a thousand small decisions, each one a tiny withdrawal from an account that's already running low on nerves. A routine is just a way of making those decisions once, in advance, in calm, so you don't have to make them on the morning when you can't think straight.

Dr Michael Gervais described the pre-performance routine on the podcast as the opposite of superstition. It's structure that carries you through the activation phase before competition without burning cognitive energy. The routine does the thinking. By the time you're on the start line, you've followed a sequence you trust, your body is warmed up, and your mind is free to focus on the ride rather than on whether you ate too early.

The non-negotiable is that you test it before it matters. The riders who turn up at their target event and try a new breakfast, a new warm-up, a new playlist — they're gambling on race day. Build the routine at the small midweek races and the training sportives, refine it, and arrive at the event that counts with a sequence that's already automatic. That's the 'not done yet' work that happens long before the start gun.

EXPERT EVIDENCE

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY

Dr Michael GervaisHigh-performance psychologist, worked with NFL, Olympic, and World Tour athletes
A pre-performance routine is structured decision-removal, not superstition. It moves the athlete through the activation phase before competition without spending cognitive energy on logistics. Absence of routine leaves the mind free to catastrophise; a rehearsed sequence carries the athlete to the start line with attention reserved for performance.
Hear it: Beating Negative Thoughts: Why 99% Fail and How You Won't | Dr Gervais
David MillarProfessional cyclist, 20 years in road racing and time trialling
Time trialling at the highest level depends on a precisely repeated pre-event sequence — warm-up, equipment checks, mental preparation — so that nothing on the day is left to chance or in-the-moment judgement. The repeatability is the point: it frees the rider to commit fully to the effort rather than worrying whether something has been missed.
Hear it: Time Trial Faster with David Millar | Roadman Cycling Podcast

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

DO THIS WEEK

Write the morning as a timed sequence and work backwards from the start
Start time minus warm-up, minus travel, minus breakfast-to-start gap, minus kit and registration. Write each step with a clock time. On the day you follow the card — no decisions, just the next item on the list.
Fix your breakfast and its timing
Same race breakfast, same number of hours before the start, every time. Practise it before your long training rides so you know it sits well and fuels the effort. Race morning is never the time to discover a new pre-event meal doesn't agree with you.
Build a structured warm-up you repeat every race
Roughly 20–30 minutes: easy spinning, then three or four progressive efforts up to and beyond race intensity. This gives the pre-race activation somewhere productive to go — into the legs — and settles the nervous system into the same state every time you compete.
Rehearse the whole routine at low-stakes events first
Run the full sequence at a midweek race or a training sportive. Find the failure points — the bottle you forgot, the warm-up that ran short — and fix them there. By your target event the routine should be automatic, not experimental.

COMMON MISTAKES

WHAT CYCLISTS GET WRONG

MISTAKETrying something new on race morning — breakfast, warm-up, kit.
FIXRehearse everything at smaller events first. Race day is the worst possible time to test an unfamiliar variable.
MISTAKELeaving the morning unplanned and improvising under pressure.
FIXWrite a timed sequence and follow it. Improvising while nervous burns the energy you need for the race itself.
MISTAKESkipping the warm-up because of nerves or time pressure.
FIXBuild a fixed 20–30 minute warm-up into the routine. It channels the activation into your legs and settles the head — skipping it produces flat, panicky starts.

FAQ

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How long before a race should I wake up?

Aim to wake at least three hours before your start, so breakfast can be eaten and digested with time to spare. Fix the exact wake time as part of your routine and keep it consistent across events, so your body knows the rhythm rather than facing a different schedule every race.

What should I eat before a race?

A familiar, carbohydrate-rich breakfast eaten two to three hours before the start works for most riders — something you've tested before long training rides, not a new pre-event meal. The specific food matters less than the fact you've practised it and know it sits well and fuels the effort.

Is a pre-race routine just superstition?

No — it's structured decision-removal. A good routine isn't a lucky pair of socks; it's a rehearsed sequence that means you make no fresh decisions on a morning when nerves make your judgement unreliable. The benefit is real and practical: conserved energy and attention reserved for the ride.

How do I warm up for different race distances?

Shorter, more intense events — criteriums, time trials, hill climbs — need a longer, more thorough warm-up with efforts up to and beyond race pace. Longer events like gran fondos need much less, since the early kilometres serve as the warm-up. Build the appropriate version into your routine for each type of event you do.

What do I do if my routine gets disrupted on the day?

Build flexibility into it by knowing which elements are essential and which are nice-to-have. If travel runs late, you protect the warm-up and breakfast timing and let the lower-priority items go. A routine you can compress without panic is more useful than a rigid one that collapses at the first disruption.

Should music be part of my pre-race routine?

If it helps you and you've used it in training, yes — familiar music can settle nerves and trigger memories of good performances. The rule is the same as everything else: introduce it before your target event, not on the day. Reaching for an unfamiliar playlist on race morning adds a variable rather than removing one.

RELATED EPISODES

HEAR THE CONVERSATIONS

Beating Negative Thoughts: Why 99% Fail and How You Won't | Dr Gervais

Time Trial Faster with David Millar | Roadman Cycling Podcast

Brian Smith on Suffering, Coaching & Winning | Roadman Cycling Podcast