← All eventsBanchory Explorr Gravel Stage Race
120km gravel stage race (76km timed across 4 stages) on Royal Deeside, edge of Cairngorms. GC + Mountain + Sprint classifications. Closed-road start/finish, gravel forest/moorland in between. Stage 3 (Queen) is 50km/1,000m.
One of the only true gravel stage races in the UK. Four timed stages, 76km of racing inside a 120km day, on Royal Deeside at the edge of the Cairngorms.
Closed-road start and finish in Banchory, then gravel forest tracks, exposed moorland and windfarm highways. Stage 3, the Queen, packs 50km and 1,000m of climbing into one decisive effort.
It's won on repeatability, not one big push. Three classifications run at once: GC, Mountain and Sprint. Target one, or chase all three.
Is Banchory Explorr Gravel Stage Race for you?
- Riders who can back up a hard effort. Four stages means four threshold efforts in one day, so it rewards repeatability over a single big push.
- Punchy all-rounders. With five climbs and five 250m sprint segments scored separately, there's a jersey for climbers and sprinters, not just the GC.
- Confident gravel riders rather than singletrack specialists. It's fire roads, forest tracks and moorland, so bike handling matters more than technical MTB skill.
- Racers who enjoy a tactical day. Choosing where to spend on the Queen Stage versus save on the transitions is the whole game.
Training plan for Banchory Explorr Gravel Stage Race
A training plan for Banchory Explorr Gravel Stage Race isn't a generic base build. Beina reads the event's exact demands, looks at your specific profile and the time you actually have, and maps a highly adapted plan to the start line.
- Four timed stages back to back, with only untimed transitions to recover between them
- Stage 3, the Queen: 50km and 1,000m of climbing across three climbs and two sprints
- Five 250m sprint segments scored as their own Sprint Challenge
- Late-August Aberdeenshire wind on exposed moorland and windfarm gravel
- 3x15min at 95-100% FTP off 6min easy, for sustained Queen-Stage pace
- Stage sims: three to four timed efforts in one ride with easy transitions between
- 5x4min VO2max at 110-120% FTP for the short, sharp climb attacks
- Sprint off threshold: 8min at FTP into a 30sec all-out sprint, on tired race-like legs
- Built from your current fitness and the time you actually have
- Adapts every week as Beina learns how you respond
- Syncs your sessions straight to Garmin and Wahoo
- One clear next session, never a wall of spreadsheet
