There is a documented lag between when a training stimulus is applied and when the performance gain is expressed. Finish your build too late and the fitness is real but inaccessible.

Before your first race or gran fondo: no one is watching you, getting dropped is part of the process, and race day is feedback, not a test. Then go again.

Gran fondo preparation like a pro: long endurance rides, a progressive build, specificity, pacing, heat, fuelling at 60 to 90g of carbs an hour and kit.

Race craft from a World Tour pro and DUCHY coaches: course knowledge, wind, fuelling at 70 grams of carbs an hour and using your matches wisely.