THE SHORT ANSWER
John Archibald, british track cyclist, pursuit specialist, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast. Here's where Archibald lands on time trialling. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
WHO IS JOHN ARCHIBALD?
John Archibald is one of the fastest UK time trial riders of his generation — multiple British national TT titles, Commonwealth Games team pursuit medallist, and a long-running Hour Record contender. He sustained a near-pro performance level for years on roughly 15 hours of training a week alongside a full-time job — which is exactly the volume that the Roadman audience is realistically training to. His perspective on aero-first decision-making, interval work in the skis, and pacing by course rather than by power number is one of the most actionable on the show for any rider chasing a 10- or 25-mile TT PB.
ARCHIBALD ON TIME TRIALLING
Archibald’s key positions on time trialling.
- Train around 15 hours a week and protect recovery — pushing past 20–25 hours stops paying back because you can't absorb the work, even at full-time pro level.
- Do your intervals in the skis, not just on the road bike — holding aero posture under VO2 and threshold loads is a trainable skill, not a one-off positional choice.
- Stop chasing weight; chase CdA and watts — below a 10kg swing, mass barely changes a 10-mile time once you're over 50km/h. Aero dominates the budget.
- Buy aero gains in the right order — tyres, a big single chainring, oversized jockey wheels and a waxed chain are universal; helmet, skinsuit, overshoes and bar position need rider-specific testing.
- Pace from the course, not the power number — model in Best Bike Split, push above threshold on draggy climbs you can recover from, treat tight corners as forced recovery.
IN ARCHIBALD’S OWN WORDS
Verbatim from John Archibald’s appearances on the podcast.
“I think there's a training commitment and then is what you're physically able to do so uh I'm quite fortunate in that I don't have a wife and kids and a very demanding job or physical job manual labor job so I'm able to commit something around 15 hours a week to cycling and so that's just unrealistic for some people but I think I also do that because I like to Road Race and do some other things and because I enjoy riding the bike it's not to say that 15 hours a week is the requirement or the Baseline”
“if I was doing a 90minut session I would never spend more than three or four minutes out of the skis at one time um and certainly in the end of won't come out at all because it's you're capitulating really it's if if you're if the intensity is so hard you have to come out skis it's too hard”
“to make a substantial difference you're talking 10 kilos or more okay so for example if you say oh I know I could lose two kilos uh and be and I might potentially lose some power with that I go not bother don't bother two kilos is going to make no difference in terms of your your uh race time because you know once you're up 50k hour the overwhelming things L you down is air resistance”
HEAR IT ON THE PODCAST
Episodes where John Archibald covers time trialling and related ground.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
What does John Archibald say about time trialling?
John Archibald, british track cyclist, pursuit specialist, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast. Here's where Archibald lands on time trialling. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
What is Archibald's main point on time trialling?
Train around 15 hours a week and protect recovery — pushing past 20–25 hours stops paying back because you can't absorb the work, even at full-time pro level.
Which Roadman Cycling Podcast episodes cover John Archibald on time trialling?
Archibald discusses time trialling in this episode: "How To Ride Faster Than 98% Of People | John Archibald".
MORE FROM ARCHIBALD
EXPLORE THE TOPIC
FTP Training— The Complete Guide →OTHER EXPERTS ON TIME TRIALLING