THE SHORT ANSWER
Dan Lorang, head of performance, red bull–bora–hansgrohe, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast 2 times. Here's where Lorang lands on VO2 max work. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
WHO IS DAN LORANG?
Dan Lorang is one of the most respected coaches in endurance sport — the long-time coach to triathlon greats Jan Frodeno, Anne Haug, and Lucy Charles-Barclay, and Head of Performance at Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe since 2017. He is the rare coach who has produced Ironman world champions and Grand Tour stage winners using the same underlying principles. His public work on training-load management, polarised intensity, and the long-arc development of an athlete has influenced how the smarter end of the amateur world structures their season.
LORANG ON VO2 MAX
Lorang’s key positions on VO2 max work.
- Long-term athlete development trumps short-term peaking — the best athletes are the ones who improve year-on-year for a decade.
- Polarised intensity distribution applies to both Ironman triathletes and Grand Tour riders — the principles cross disciplines.
- Training load is best managed by listening to the athlete daily, not by following a plan in spite of the body's signals.
- Strength work is non-negotiable for endurance athletes over 30 — durability prevents the late-season collapse.
- The bike leg of a triathlon is paced for the run that follows, not as a standalone TT — most age-groupers ignore this and fade in the marathon.
IN LORANG’S OWN WORDS
Verbatim from Dan Lorang’s appearances on the podcast.
“if we get studies where is the benefit of sports so where do you have the most benefit concerning your health normally we talk I think it's about six seven hours something there and after that already the positiv effects get a little bit less and so if we talk about 30 hours it has nothing to do with health it's it's necessary for high performance to bring your body to that limit”
“if you do for example a V2 Max session no matter in which spot for sure this is the session who should not be uh probably a three or four hour session um but this is the short session if you doing something with an easy endurance fat metabolism training easy endurance training so aerobic endurance training for sure this session can be much longer so basically these are already two parameters where you um that are are working vice versa so if you increase volume you decrease intensity”
“makes no no no no sense to make c training at the beginning of the season three times a week one hour and then skipping it uh somewhere when you start to race because then you will lose it because everything what you don't train you will lose again so um better to from the beginning on to build something consistency something what you can do consistently”
HEAR IT ON THE PODCAST
Episodes where Dan Lorang covers VO2 max work and related ground.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
What does Dan Lorang say about VO2 max work?
Dan Lorang, head of performance, red bull–bora–hansgrohe, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast 2 times. Here's where Lorang lands on VO2 max work. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
What is Lorang's main point on vo2 max?
Long-term athlete development trumps short-term peaking — the best athletes are the ones who improve year-on-year for a decade.
Which Roadman Cycling Podcast episodes cover Dan Lorang on vo2 max?
Lorang discusses VO2 max work in this episode: "Roglic's Coach Builds A Training Plan For Amateur Riders | Dan Lorang".