Events/The Cheshire Cat Sportive

The Cheshire Cat Sportive

Road

Date

Sun, 21 Mar 2027

Venue

Crewe, Cheshire, NW England

Countdown

March

Distance

167km

Total climb

1,781m

One of the UK's first big sportives of the year, the traditional season opener out of Crewe. Headlined by Mow Cop, the Killer Mile: a savage one-mile wall that ramps to 23% at around mile 20.

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The course

The route

The long route runs 104 miles and 1,780m from Crewe, with the climbing front-loaded into the first 40. Mow Cop tops out near 23% before a hilly block, then it is mostly flat to the finish.

Weather

Late-March, Crewe

10°CTypical high

3°CTypical low

-4°CColdest in 20 years

40%Days with rain

Highs around 10°C and lows around 3°C, but it has dropped to -4°C. Rain on 40% of days. Pack for the cold end, not the average.

NASA POWER data, 2006-2025, the week either side of race day

Training

Training for the The Cheshire Cat Sportive

We don't do generic plans. We combine deep knowledge of this race's demands with your recent training, then build a plan with you that progresses as you do.

Beina integrates directly with your existing tools to understand your current fitness, and synchronise your planned sessions.

Intervals.icu

A short wall, then a long flat grind

Typical sessions

Mow Cop at mile 20: around a mile at 11.3% average, ramping to 23%, hit on legs that are not fully warm

The four climbs after it through Biddulph Moor and Rudyard, the day's hardest block

60 mostly flat miles home where holding a group and a steady pace decides your time

Raw late-March weather: cold, often wet, with exposed flat sections in the wind

What your weeks look like

Typical sessions

2x20 sweet spot and 3x10 threshold climbs for the hilly first 40 miles

Steep wall reps: 6 to 8 by 2 to 4 min on a 15 to 25% pitch in a low gear, a straight Mow Cop simulation

A 3 to 4 hour long ride ending with a 30 to 40 min flat tempo block on tired legs

Group rides to practise drafting and holding pace for the flat back half

Not a generic schedule

Typical sessions

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

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