Nathan: From Starting Out to the Gran Fondo Worlds

When Nathan and I first spoke in November 2025, structured training was new to him. He wanted to improve, and described a 50 km ride as a challenge.

Seven months later, he qualified for the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships. By August, he was on the start line in Niseko, Japan, wearing his Great Britain kit.

There was a lot of learning between those two moments: understanding different sessions, building consistency, practising fuelling and working out how to approach an event. That’s the part of his story I want to share.

Finding a routine

Our first call was on 11 November, and I put Nathan’s first training week together a few days later.

The starting point was understanding his riding, the time he had available and what he wanted to achieve. From there, I introduced sessions that would help establish his training zones and give each week some structure.

One of our early conversations followed a session with two five-minute efforts. Nathan started the first too hard and faded. On the second, he held back initially and increased the effort towards the finish, which felt better.

It was a useful lesson straight away. Alongside developing fitness, he was learning how to judge an effort, read his power numbers and connect them with how he felt.

His feedback helped me adjust the sessions as we went, fitting training around work, the weather and how he was recovering.

Building through winter

In December, Nathan headed to Tenerife, where a 20-minute climbing test gave us a useful benchmark for the months ahead.

Back home, indoor training became an important part of the routine. His winter records show 62 turbo sessions between late December and mid-March, alongside outdoor riding when conditions allowed.

During January’s Ride Down Under virtual events, he was producing sustained efforts approaching his training-camp benchmark, while also setting a new best over 40 minutes. It was encouraging to see that form carrying into winter and his ability to sustain longer efforts developing.

Nathan was also getting into the practical details. By February, he was testing different gels during training and working out what he could comfortably use over a longer event. Those small decisions would matter when the racing came around.

Giving the year a focus

As we planned the season, Maraton Franja in Slovenia became the main target.

The aim was to arrive strong enough to compete well, with an outside chance of qualifying for the World Championships. Nathan researched the course and spoke to someone who had competed there before, giving us useful information to build into his preparation.

We discussed the fast opening, positioning in the group and the demands of the main climb. We also worked through breakfast timing, taking on fuel before the harder sections and saving energy wherever possible.

Knowing what to expect helped turn a big event into a series of manageable decisions.

Seven months to qualification

On 14 June, Nathan completed Franja in approximately four hours and five minutes by his own timing.

His first messages mentioned the heat, the strength of the field and how pleased he was with the effort he had sustained over four hours.

What pleased me was how controlled his ride had been. He had held something back on the main climb, knowing there were still around 70 km to ride afterwards, and still recorded personal bests along the way.

Later that afternoon, another message arrived:

“We qualified!”

Seven months after I first set his training, Nathan had earned a place at the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships.

The next conversation was about Japan.

Putting it into practice at the Worlds

The final preparation wasn’t straightforward. Illness disrupted the build-up, and we had to adjust the training and expectations along the way.

Nathan still made it to the start line in Niseko.

Early in the race, his group was setting a demanding pace on a climb. He made the decision to let them go rather than spend everything trying to stay with them, then found another group for the next section.

That judgement showed how much he had learned. He was making decisions with the whole race in mind.

Reviewing the ride afterwards, I was pleased with the consistency of his effort through the later climbs and his ability to lift the pace again towards the finish.

He also recorded his best-ever one-hour power during the World Championships. Setting that benchmark within a demanding race, rather than a standalone test, was a particularly encouraging sign of his progress.

He had taken the fitness developed in training and used it when it mattered, despite a difficult lead-in.

Plenty to build on

For me, the biggest change was how Nathan approached his riding.

He had become more confident with structured sessions, more thoughtful about pacing and fuelling, and better able to judge what he could sustain. Qualification and a World Championship finish gave that progress a memorable result.

There are still areas to develop, and the race analysis has given us plenty to work on next.

It’s been a first season to be proud of. I’m looking forward to seeing where Nathan takes it from here.

Felix English

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