Most interval training is clean. Zone 2, zone 4, VO2 max blocks. Neat numbers, neat recovery. Racing is none of those things. This episode of the Roadman Cycling podcast covers the one interval that actually mimics what happens when a race gets won.
Key Takeaways
Analysts pulled apart thousands of race files looking for what winning efforts had in common. What they found was a pattern: ten seconds absolutely full gas to get separation, one minute in zone 5 to establish the gap, then four minutes in zone 4 to cement it. That's a breakaway in three phases. That's also your interval. I've used this with riders I coach and the thing that always strikes me is how different it feels from the usual sweet spot blocks they've been doing. Nothing prepares you for that first ten-second hole shot if you've never practiced it.
Four reps per session. That's it. Whether you're racing crits, sportives, or just trying to hang onto a group that keeps attacking on the climbs, you need the ability to produce that violent acceleration and then hold something hard after it. The training internet keeps selling you clean, predictable sessions because they're easy to explain. But races aren't clean. Your body needs to know what it feels like to go from 40 km/h to absolutely full stick and then keep riding hard for the next five minutes. Run four of these and you'll know immediately whether your training has been preparing you for racing or just for training.
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If you want to understand how pros structure sessions around efforts like this, the episode where I asked a pro rider about his training is worth your time. And if your VO2 max has plateaued, the seven fixable reasons episode gives you specific things to change.