THE SHORT ANSWER
John Wakefield, director of coaching & sports science, red bull–bora–hansgrohe, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast. Here's where Wakefield lands on threshold training. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
WHO IS JOHN WAKEFIELD?
John Wakefield is the South African-born coach and bike fitter who runs Science to Sport in Girona — one of the leading lab-to-bike performance facilities in cycling — and now serves as Director of Coaching & Sports Science at Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe. He spent four seasons as Performance Coordinator and Coach at UAE Team Emirates working alongside the Pogačar-era programme, and has coached riders from amateur to Grand Tour level using a metabolic-testing-led methodology. His work matters because he is one of the few coaches who systematically translates lab data — VO2max, Fat Max, lactate response — into the actual training week amateurs and pros ride.
WAKEFIELD ON THRESHOLD TRAINING
Wakefield’s key positions on threshold training.
- Lab-based metabolic testing reveals zone errors that FTP-derived calculations always miss.
- Most amateurs ride too hard on easy days because their power-derived Zone 2 is set too high.
- Aerobic-base deficits show up as second-half fade on rides over 2 hours — not on 20-minute tests.
- Bike fit is a performance variable, not a comfort one — the Girona lab combines fit and physiology testing on the same day.
- Pro and amateur training principles converge on the same physiology — the difference is the volume and the recovery.
IN WAKEFIELD’S OWN WORDS
Verbatim from John Wakefield’s appearances on the podcast.
“it's a three minute test at a specific power range that you would prescribe to that athlete so hypothetically it's anything from threshold to 110% of threshold as a power value and they would perform that three minute at that specific power uh as I said every sort of 7 to 10 days”
“just because you don't do it during the event it doesn't mean that you don't do it in training because essentially that stimulus you want increase your V2 you increase your V2 your threshold can improve your metabolic phase improves so you want to improve as an athlete essentially going forward from a physiological Point regardless of whether you're going to be doing 4020 type simulation in that endurance event”
HEAR IT ON THE PODCAST
Episodes where John Wakefield covers threshold training and related ground.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
What does John Wakefield say about threshold training?
John Wakefield, director of coaching & sports science, red bull–bora–hansgrohe, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast. Here's where Wakefield lands on threshold training. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
What is Wakefield's main point on threshold training?
Lab-based metabolic testing reveals zone errors that FTP-derived calculations always miss.
Which Roadman Cycling Podcast episodes cover John Wakefield on threshold training?
Wakefield discusses threshold training in this episode: "How Team Bora Build Endurance: John Wakefield on Ultra Cycling Training".
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