Rad am Ring is not a sportive. It looks like one on the entry form — mass start, chip timing, feed stations, a finisher's medal. But from the moment the flag drops at the Nurburgring, it rides like a road race. Five thousand cyclists on motorsport-smooth tarmac, punchy Eifel climbs that demand surges every ten minutes, and a circuit finish where the front groups sprint for the line at 55km/h. If you train for this the way you would train for a rolling gran fondo, you will spend the second half of the race watching groups ride away from you on 800-metre climbs you should have been able to handle.
This is the framework we use with riders inside Not Done Yet who are targeting Rad am Ring. The sessions, pacing, and race-day tactics are built around the specific demand that defines this event — not sustained climbing, not pure endurance, but the repeated ability to produce 1-3 minute efforts above threshold, recover while holding 38km/h in a tight group, and do it again. And again.
Key Takeaways
- Rad am Ring combines the Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit with Eifel hill roads — the terrain is punchy and relentless rather than sustained, with most climbs between 1-3km at 6-10% gradient.
- The Jedermann race covers 60-90km with approximately 1,200m of climbing — short enough to ride at high intensity, long enough that poor pacing bites at km 60.
- 5,000 riders in a peloton on motorsport-smooth tarmac creates racing dynamics closer to a criterium than a sportive — positioning, drafting, and surge recovery are the primary skills.
- Target 3.0 W/kg minimum for the Jedermann; 3.8+ W/kg to ride with the front groups and contest the circuit-finish sprint.
- The Nordschleife laps are fast and technical — the Karussell and Brunnchen descents at 60-70km/h in a group reward confident bike handling and punish hesitation.
- A 12-week build with threshold work and short-power intervals (1-3 minutes) matches the event's repeated punchy demands better than long endurance blocks.
- German feed stations are efficient but sparse — carry your own nutrition and do not rely on finding food at km 40.
What Rad am Ring Actually Demands
The Nurburgring is the venue. The Eifel is the race. Most first-timers fixate on the Nordschleife — the legendary motorsport circuit that winds through forest for 20.8km with 300m of elevation change, banked curves named after fatal corners, and tarmac so smooth it feels engineered for carbon wheels. You will ride the Nordschleife. You will love it. But the Nordschleife is fast. The gradient rarely exceeds 10-11%. The surfaces are immaculate. The circuit sections are where you recover, not where you suffer.
The suffering happens on the Eifel roads between the circuit laps. The route pushes out into the volcanic hills surrounding the Nurburgring — rolling terrain at 500-700m altitude where the climbs are short, steep, and relentless. One to three kilometres at 6-10%, with ramps touching 12-14% on the steeper pitches. Then a fast descent, a valley road for 3-5km, and another climb. The rhythm is surge, recover, surge, recover — and the recovery sections are not flat. They are rolling. Your legs never fully reset.
The distance is deceptive. The Jedermann race covers 60-90km depending on the year's route configuration, with approximately 1,200m of climbing. On paper, this looks like a Sunday training ride with a club. In practice, the pace changes everything. Rad am Ring is ridden at race intensity from the start. Average speeds in the main field sit around 35-38km/h, with the front groups pushing 40-42km/h on the flat circuit sections. At those speeds, 60-90km takes 1:45 to 2:30 for the main field and under 1:40 for the front groups. This is not an event where you settle in and manage your effort across six hours. It is an event where you hang on, recover when you can, and hope your short power holds through the final Eifel climbs.
The peloton is the defining feature. Five thousand riders in a mass start on a wide, smooth circuit creates dynamics you do not find in any other sportive. Groups form within the first three kilometres. Drafting saves 25-35% of your effort on the circuit sections. Riders who cannot hold a wheel at 40km/h in close proximity lose the draft benefit and ride themselves into the ground before the first Eifel climb arrives. Riders who can sit in a fast group, conserve energy, and respond to surges on the hills finish feeling like they raced a completely different event. Rad am Ring is won and lost on positioning, not on fitness alone.
The conditions are Eifel conditions. The race is typically held in June, but the Eifel plateau sits at 600-700m altitude — high enough that morning temperatures at the start regularly sit between 10 and 14 degrees Celsius, even in early summer. By midday, temperatures may reach 18-22 degrees, but the early kilometres are cold, and the descents at 60-70km/h in thin June kit can chill your core before you have time to warm up on the next climb. Rain is common. The Eifel sees more precipitation than the Rhine valley below, and a morning that starts dry can deteriorate by mid-race. Pack a gilet. Use it.
How it differs from other European sportives. Most gran fondos and sportives are endurance events. You ride for five, six, eight hours, managing effort across sustained climbs and long valley roads. The challenge is duration. Rad am Ring is the opposite. The challenge is intensity. The distance is short enough that you can ride at 80-90% of threshold for the entire event if your short-power repeatability supports it. It is closer in character to a Belgian kermesse than to the Maratona dles Dolomites. If you have done the Amstel Gold sportive or the Tour of Flanders sportive, the punchy rhythm will feel familiar — but the pace is faster, the groups are larger, and the circuit sections add a motor-racing flavour that no other cycling event replicates.
Course Analysis: Critical Sections
The Start and Initial Grouping
The race launches from the Nurburgring GP circuit area. The opening kilometres are on the circuit or its access roads — wide, smooth, and fast. The pace from the gun is aggressive. Riders jostle for position in the peloton, groups fracture and reform, and anyone who starts conservatively risks losing contact with their target group before the road even narrows.
Here is the thing nobody tells you about the Rad am Ring start: you need to race for your position in the first 5km. Not attack, not sprint, but actively maintain contact with a group that matches your ability. If you are a 3.5 W/kg rider who drifts back through the field in the opening kilometres, you will spend the next 80km in a slower group, and the energy required to bridge across to a faster group on the Eifel roads is energy you cannot afford. Start near the front of your wave. Stay there.
The first 10-15km sort the field. Faster riders drive the pace, weaker riders drift back, and within 15 minutes the amorphous mass of 5,000 has split into distinct groups of 20-80 riders, each travelling at a relatively stable speed. Your objective in this phase is to find a group where the pace feels sustainable but not easy — a group that pushes you on the flat circuit sections but does not break you on the first Eifel climb.
Eifel Hill Climbs: Short, Punchy, Repeated
The route leaves the circuit and enters the Eifel hills. The change is abrupt. Wide motorsport tarmac becomes a two-lane road through volcanic forest and farmland. The first climb arrives within a few kilometres of leaving the circuit.
A typical Eifel climb on the Rad am Ring route: 1-2km at 7-9% average gradient, with the steepest section — 10-12% for 200-300 metres — in the middle or near the top. The road is narrow. The group compresses at the base of each climb as riders shift down and stand on the pedals. Positioning matters. Riders at the back of the group lose momentum waiting for those ahead to shift and accelerate, and the concertina effect means they need to produce 10-15% more power to maintain contact through the climb.
The climbing demand: 60-120 seconds at 110-130% FTP per effort. The recovery between climbs: 3-8 minutes at 75-85% FTP on undulating valley roads. This is the rhythm. Surge. Hold. Recover. Surge again. Over the course of the Jedermann, you will complete 8-15 of these efforts depending on the route. Each one individually is manageable. The accumulation is not.
The climbs that break riders are not the steepest. They are the ones that arrive after three or four previous efforts with insufficient recovery between them. Your training must target this specific fatigue pattern — not one maximal climb, but the eighth hard effort when your legs are full of lactate and your breathing never quite comes back to baseline between surges.
Nordschleife Circuit Laps
The route loops back through the Nurburgring circuit for one or two laps of all or part of the Nordschleife. These sections are fast. The tarmac is silky. The gradient is moderate — undulating through the Eifel forest with nothing steeper than 10-11% on the major ramps. But the speed is high.
The Karussell. The famous banked corner that motorsport fans know from Formula One footage. On a bicycle, the Karussell is ridden on the flat outer tarmac, not the banked concrete section — but the approach is steep downhill and the exit ramps back up, and in a tight group at 50-60km/h the line through the corner matters. Hold the outside. Brake before the entry, not in the corner. Accelerate out. The riders who hesitate here open gaps that cost 10-20 seconds to close on the exit ramp.
Brunnchen. A fast descent through the trees with a compression at the bottom and a short steep ramp out. In a peloton, this section demands trust. You are descending at 60-70km/h surrounded by riders, and the compression at the bottom loads your front wheel hard. Keep your weight back, hands in the drops, eyes forward — not on the wheel directly ahead of you, but two or three riders ahead, reading the movement of the group. Nervous braking here triggers chain reactions.
The circuit finish. The Jedermann finishes on or near the GP circuit. The final 2-3km are flat and fast, and the front groups sprint. If you are in contention, the positioning game begins 5km from the line — move towards the front of your group, shelter behind a strong wheel, and launch your sprint with 300-400 metres remaining. If you are not sprinting for position, the circuit finish is still a thrill. Five thousand riders on a motorsport track, funnelling towards the line at 40-50km/h. Keep your line. Keep your head up. Enjoy it.
12-Week Training Framework
Twelve weeks is sufficient for riders with a base of 6-8 hours per week and an FTP above 2.5 W/kg. If you are coming in with fewer than 5 hours per week, add 4 weeks of aerobic base riding before starting this structure. Check your FTP zones before week one and retest at the end of week 8.
Phase 1: Aerobic Base and Short-Power Foundation (Weeks 1-4)
The objective is building the aerobic platform that sustains 2-3 hours of high-intensity racing and introducing the neuromuscular patterns that the Eifel climbs demand. Volume is moderate. Intensity is carefully placed.
- Weekly volume: 7-9 hours across 4-5 rides
- Long ride: Build from 2.5 hours to 3.5 hours by week 4, riding at Zone 2 (60-70% FTP) on the hilliest terrain available
- Key quality session (weekly): Sweet spot intervals — 2x20 minutes at 88-93% FTP with 5 minutes recovery. These build the sustainable power you will need between the Eifel surges
- Short-power introduction (twice per week): Include 6-8 efforts of 60-90 seconds at 110-120% FTP within any ride. Hill repeats are ideal. These can sit inside a Zone 2 ride — they do not need their own session
- Strength work (twice per week): Lunges (3x12 each leg), single-leg press (3x10), step-ups with moderate load (3x10 each leg), core stability circuits — planks, side planks, bird-dog, pallof press, 2x30 seconds each. Single-leg strength matters here because every Eifel climb demands repeated standing accelerations
- Group riding: Ride with a group at least once per week from the start. Rad am Ring is a group event. Solo training does not prepare you for the positioning, drafting, and surge-response demands of a 5,000-rider peloton
The base phase for a short, intense event is different from the base phase for a long endurance sportive. You are not training to survive six hours. You are training to race for two. The aerobic base still matters — it determines how quickly you recover between the Eifel surges — but the neuromuscular patterns need early introduction so they are established by the time the build phase arrives.
Phase 2: Build with VO2max and Threshold Work (Weeks 5-8)
Volume increases slightly. Intensity increases substantially. Two quality sessions per week now.
- Weekly volume: 8-10 hours across 4-5 rides
- Long ride: 3.5-4.5 hours on rolling terrain with the final 45-60 minutes at tempo (76-85% FTP). This simulates arriving at the later Eifel climbs with fatigue in the legs
- Quality session 1 — Eifel simulation intervals: 8x2 minutes at 115-125% FTP with 3 minutes rolling recovery (65-75% FTP). Build to 10-12 reps by week 8. These replicate the climb-recover-climb rhythm of the Eifel hills. Recovery must be active, not standing. The Eifel does not let you stop between climbs
- Quality session 2 — Over-under intervals: 3x8 minutes alternating 2 minutes at 92-97% FTP with 2 minutes at 105-110% FTP. These train the specific metabolic demand of riding at threshold and then surging above it when a climb arrives — which is exactly what happens when the road ramps up while you are already riding at 80% FTP in a fast group
- Strength work: Reduce to one session per week, maintaining intensity — step-ups (3x12 each leg), split lunges (3x10 each leg), single-leg glute bridge (3x10 each leg for posterior chain stability), core circuit
- Descending practice: Dedicate one ride per week to descending at speed on technical roads. The Nordschleife circuit sections and the Eifel descents between climbs are fast — 50-70km/h in a group. If you are not comfortable descending at speed with riders around you, you will lose contact on every descent and burn matches closing gaps on every subsequent flat section
Key metric by week 8: You should be completing 10-12 reps of 2 minutes at 115-125% FTP with 3 minutes active recovery and finishing the session tired but not destroyed. If you can only manage 6 reps before the quality drops, your aerobic base needs more work. If 12 reps feel manageable, increase the work interval power by 5%.
Phase 3: Race-Specific Preparation (Weeks 9-11)
Volume holds steady or drops slightly. The sessions now look like the race.
- Weekly volume: 8-10 hours
- Race simulation ride (weekly): 2.5-3 hours on rolling terrain with 10-15 surges to 120-135% FTP for 60-120 seconds embedded throughout, with 3-5 minutes recovery between surges at 75-85% FTP. Ride the recovery sections at race pace, not easy pace. This session should feel like the race — hard, fast, and relentless. Use your race-day nutrition. Use your race-day gearing
- Group ride with attack simulations (weekly): Ride with a club or group and actively practise surging and recovering within the group. Attack on short climbs at race intensity, then rejoin the group on the flat. Practise responding to other riders' attacks — match the surge, recover, keep your position. These are the skills Rad am Ring demands, and they cannot be trained alone
- Threshold maintenance: 1x per week, 2x15 minutes at 88-93% FTP with 5 minutes recovery. Maintain the engine without fatiguing the system
- Strength work: One maintenance session — single-leg press (2x8), core circuit (2 rounds). Nothing heavy. Nothing new
- Descending practice continues — include at least one descent at 50-60km/h in a group per week
Phase 4: Taper (Week 12)
Drop volume by 40%. Keep short sharp efforts to maintain the neuromuscular responsiveness that the Eifel climbs demand.
- Monday: 60 minutes easy spin at Zone 2
- Tuesday: Rest
- Wednesday: 75 minutes with 6x90 seconds at 115-120% FTP with 3 minutes full recovery — maintaining the effort pattern without the fatigue
- Thursday: 45 minutes easy spin
- Friday: 30-minute opener ride with 3x60 seconds at race effort, full recovery between. Spin out. Done
- Saturday: Rest. Eat. Sleep
- Sunday: Race
The legs will feel restless by Thursday. That is the fatigue lifting. Trust it. A proper taper for an intense 2-3 hour event is worth 3-5% in performance. Use the taper framework to structure the final days.
Key Sessions That Simulate Rad am Ring's Demands
Punchy Climb Simulation: 8x2min at 120% FTP
Warm up for 15-20 minutes with progressive intensity. Then ride 8 repetitions of 2 minutes at 120% FTP with 2 minutes rolling recovery at 65-75% FTP. Use a short hill if available — ideally 1-2km at 6-8%, which replicates the Eifel climb length and gradient. If training indoors, set the gradient to 6-8% and hold the target power.
The recovery interval is critical. Two minutes is not enough to fully clear lactate. That is the point. By rep 5-6, you are starting each effort with residual fatigue — exactly the state your legs are in when the seventh Eifel climb arrives at km 55. Build to 10-12 reps by the end of the build phase.
Over-Under Intervals: 3x8min Alternating Threshold and VO2max
Three sets of 8 minutes. Within each set, alternate 2 minutes at 92-97% FTP with 2 minutes at 105-110% FTP. Four alternations per set. Five minutes easy recovery between sets.
This session trains the ability to ride at threshold and then surge above it when the road kicks up. In the race, you will be riding at 80-85% FTP in a fast group on the Eifel valley roads, and then a 1km climb at 8% arrives and the power demand jumps to 110-130% FTP for 90 seconds. The over-under pattern trains the metabolic switch between these two states.
Group Ride with Attack Simulations
Join a club ride or chain gang. For every short climb, attack at race intensity — 120-140% FTP for the duration of the climb. Immediately regroup on the flat section and recover at 70-80% FTP in the group. Repeat on every hill.
Between attacks, practise sitting 2nd or 3rd wheel. Practise responding to other riders' surges — matching the acceleration and settling back in. Practise eating and drinking while holding a wheel at 35km/h. These are the practical skills that distinguish riders who survive Rad am Ring from riders who thrive at it.
Descending Practice at Speed
Find a descent of 2-4km with good visibility and reasonable traffic. Ride it repeatedly at increasing speed, focusing on three things: line choice through corners (enter wide, apex late, exit wide), braking (before the corner, never in it), and body position (hands in the drops, weight on the outside pedal through corners, eyes looking through the exit of the bend — not at the tarmac in front of your wheel).
If you can practise this in a small group, even better. The Nordschleife descents are ridden in packs. Trust and predictability are everything. Hold your line. Do not brake erratically. Do not overlap the wheel ahead.
Nutrition and Fuelling Strategy
Rad am Ring is shorter and harder than most sportives, which changes the fuelling approach. You are not managing a six-hour energy budget. You are fuelling for 2-3 hours at race intensity — an effort level that burns glycogen at a ferocious rate.
Pre-race carb loading. Because the event is short enough to be glycogen-limited but long enough that starting depleted costs you, carb loading the day before matters more here than for longer events where on-bike fuelling catches up. Target 8-10g of carbohydrate per kg of bodyweight the day before. Breakfast 3 hours before the start: 2-3g/kg of carbs, moderate protein, low fibre. Porridge with banana and honey. Toast with jam. Nothing you have not eaten before a training ride.
On the bike: 60-90g of carbs per hour. This is non-negotiable for race-intensity riding. At 80-90% FTP, your body burns through glycogen at approximately 3-4g per minute. Over two hours, that is 360-480g of glycogen consumed. Your body stores roughly 400-500g. Without topping up, you hit the wall at km 60-70 — exactly when the final Eifel climbs demand everything you have.
Use the fuelling calculator to dial in your specific numbers.
| Timing | Intake | Notes | |---|---|---| | Pre-ride (3 hours before) | 150-200g carbs | Familiar foods only. Nothing new on race day | | Start to km 30 | 60g carbs/hour | Drink mix (40g) + 1 gel (20-25g). Start eating within 15 minutes | | Km 30 to km 60 | 80-90g carbs/hour | Drink mix (40g) + 2 gels (40-50g). The intensity demands higher intake | | Km 60 to finish | 60-80g carbs/hour | Gels and liquid carbs. No solid food — the intensity is too high for digestion |
The practical problem. Eating on the bike at Rad am Ring is harder than at a normal sportive because you are riding in a tight group at high speed. You cannot safely unwrap a bar while holding a wheel at 40km/h in a pack. The solution: bottles loaded with 40-50g of carbohydrate per 500ml via drink mix, supplemented by gels in a jersey pocket with the tops pre-cut. Drink mix is your primary fuel. Gels are your supplementary fuel. Solid food stays in your pocket for emergencies.
German feed stations. The race has them. They are efficient. They are also sparse — typically one or two for the Jedermann distance. Do not plan your nutrition around finding food at a feed station. Carry everything you need for 2.5-3 hours on your bike at the start line. If a feed station appears and you can grab a bottle without losing your group, take it. If it costs you 30 seconds and the draft of 20 riders, leave it.
Kit and Equipment Considerations
Aero Matters on the Circuit
The Nordschleife and GP circuit sections are flat to rolling, and the groups travel at 38-45km/h. At those speeds, aerodynamic drag accounts for 80-85% of the resistance you are pedalling against. Aero advantages that seem marginal at 30km/h become meaningful at 42km/h. Wear a fitted jersey, not a flapping club kit. Consider an aero helmet if you have one. Make sure your bottles are not creating unnecessary drag — one in the downtube cage, one behind the seat tube if your frame accepts it.
That said, Rad am Ring is not a time trial. You are in a group. The biggest aerodynamic advantage is the rider in front of you. Being well-positioned in the draft matters more than any piece of kit.
Tyres: 25-28mm
The Nurburgring circuit tarmac is immaculate. You could ride 23mm tyres on it and feel nothing. But the Eifel hill roads are narrower, rougher in places, and occasionally damp. A 25-28mm tyre at 80-90 PSI (depending on your weight) handles both surfaces well — fast on the circuit, stable on the hills. Avoid going wider than 28mm. The course is fast and the rolling resistance penalty of high-volume tyres shows up in a group that is riding at 40km/h. Use the power-speed calculator to see the watt difference at race speed.
Gearing for Punchy Climbs
The Eifel climbs are steep but short. The maximum gradient on the course is typically 12-14%, and no climb exceeds 3km. A compact crankset (50/34) with a 28-tooth cassette handles everything on the course comfortably. You do not need a 32-tooth bail-out gear — the climbs are too short for that to matter, and the time spent in your big ring on the circuit sections means tight cassette spacing in the 14-19 tooth range is more useful than a wide-range cassette with gaps.
If you run a standard crankset (52/36), a 28-tooth cassette gives you enough range for the 12-14% ramps, but you will need strong legs at 60-65 RPM on the steepest pitches. For most riders, compact is the smarter choice. The power difference between a 50-tooth and 52-tooth big ring at 42km/h is less than 5 watts. The comfort difference between a 34-tooth and 36-tooth inner ring at 12% is the difference between sitting and standing.
Weather Kit for the Eifel
The non-negotiable items: a gilet in your pocket, arm warmers on your arms (push them down if it warms up), and full-finger gloves in the back pocket. The Eifel start temperature of 10-14 degrees at 650m altitude feels cold in a skinsuit, and the Nordschleife descents at 60-70km/h create wind chill that drops perceived temperature by 5-8 degrees at those speeds.
If the forecast suggests rain, wear a lightweight rain jacket for the first 30 minutes and ditch it at the first feed station. Wet Eifel descents at 60km/h in a group are not the place to discover that cold hands cannot brake properly.
Race Week and Race Day Logistics
Getting to the Nurburgring
The Nurburgring is in the Eifel region of Rhineland-Palatinate, roughly 90 minutes south of Cologne and 70 minutes west of Koblenz. Fly into Cologne/Bonn or Frankfurt and drive. There is limited public transport to the circuit — a car is effectively mandatory. Accommodation in the villages around the Nurburgring is limited and books out early for Rad am Ring weekend. Adenau, Nurburg, and Mayen are the nearest towns with reasonable options. Book 3-4 months in advance.
Registration and Start Waves
Registration opens months before the event on the Rad am Ring website. The Jedermann sells out — this is one of Germany's biggest cycling events. Enter early. Start waves are typically assigned based on estimated finish time or self-declared fitness level. Choose honestly. A fast start wave puts you with strong riders who will help pull you through the circuit sections. A wave above your ability means you spend the first 10km in oxygen debt trying to hold wheels you cannot hold, and you are worse off than if you had started in the right group.
Collect your race number and timing chip the day before. Check your bike the evening before. Inflate your tyres the morning of. Leave nothing to chance.
Warm-Up Protocol
Rad am Ring starts fast. The opening kilometres on the circuit are ridden at race pace, and cold muscles do not produce the power that warm muscles do. Twenty minutes on the turbo before the start, or 20 minutes of easy riding around the paddock area, with three 30-second efforts at race intensity in the final 5 minutes of the warm-up. The goal is to arrive at the start line with your heart rate elevated, your muscles warm, and your breathing pattern established. This is not an endurance event where you can ease into the effort. The pace is high from metre one.
Positioning in the Peloton from the Gun
Start as close to the front of your wave as possible. The first 3-5km determine your group for the race. Move through the field in the opening minutes — not aggressively, not dangerously, but actively. Sit on wheels. Move through gaps when they appear. Settle into a group of 20-50 riders whose pace you can sustain. Then stop moving. Find a wheel. Sit in. Conserve.
The worst position in the peloton at Rad am Ring is at the very back. Every acceleration on the circuit creates a concertina effect, and the last riders in a group of 60 need to produce 15-20% more power on every surge to maintain contact. The second worst position is alone between two groups. Solo riders at 40km/h burn 30% more energy than drafting riders at the same speed. Get in a group and stay there.
Common Mistakes Riders Make at Rad am Ring
Treating it like an endurance sportive. The most common error. Riders who have done the Marmotte or the Maratona arrive at Rad am Ring with an endurance mindset — ride conservatively, eat well, manage the effort across a long day. Rad am Ring is not a long day. It is a short, fast, intense day. The pacing strategy that works for 180km with 4,000m of climbing does not work for 80km with 1,200m of climbing ridden at race pace. You need to be prepared to ride at 80-90% FTP for extended sections and surge above threshold on every Eifel climb. Train for that.
Going into the red on the first Eifel climb. The first climb out of the Nurburgring complex arrives when your legs are fresh and the adrenaline is high. Riders attack it at 140-150% FTP, cresting the top in oxygen debt. Then the second climb arrives 5km later, and they attack that too. By the fourth or fifth climb, the accumulated debt means they cannot hold the group's pace on a gradient they could normally ride at tempo. The fix: ride the first three Eifel climbs at 105-115% FTP, no more. Save the deeper efforts for the second half of the race when the group has thinned and the climbs determine who stays and who drops.
Poor group riding etiquette in the peloton. Half-wheeling. Braking in the peloton without warning. Surging when it is your turn at the front instead of maintaining a steady pace. Drifting sideways in corners. These behaviours endanger other riders and get you dropped. The group will close ranks around reliable, predictable riders and leave erratic riders behind. If your group riding experience is limited, spend weeks 9-11 of the training plan in structured group rides, learning the etiquette before race day.
Not practising descending at speed. The Nordschleife descents are fast. Brunnchen and the Karussell approach are ridden at 55-70km/h in a packed group. If you are braking where others are not, you create gaps that cost energy to close and put riders behind you at risk. Descending confidence comes from practice, not from hoping for the best on race day. Find a fast descent near your home and ride it repeatedly until 60km/h in a tucked position feels controlled, not terrifying.
Ignoring the Eifel weather. June in the Eifel is not June in the Rhineland valley below. The 200-300m altitude difference drops temperatures by 2-3 degrees. Morning race starts at 650m altitude can be seriously cold — 8-12 degrees with dew on the road. Riders in short sleeves and no gilet suffer in the opening 30 minutes, and cold muscles produce less power. The lightweight gilet and arm warmers weigh less than 200g combined. Carry them. Use them.
Race Your Nurburgring
Rad am Ring gives you something no other cycling event does: a motorsport circuit under your wheels, 5,000 riders around you, and Eifel hills that test your ability to punch, recover, and punch again. It rewards specific preparation — short-power repeatability, group riding confidence, descending skill, and the tactical intelligence to position yourself in a fast-moving peloton.
The 12-week framework above builds exactly those qualities. If you want help dialling in the sessions, pacing, and race-day nutrition for your specific numbers, that is what we do inside the community at Not Done Yet. Riders who have done the work show up at the Nurburgring knowing what every Eifel climb will cost them — and knowing they can pay.