Climbing is where most amateur cyclists lose the most time — and where most of the fixes are straightforward. If you're getting dropped on climbs, the problem almost certainly comes down to one of five things: pacing, power-to-weight ratio, cadence, position on the bike, or the mental game. Fix those in the right order and you will climb faster. Not eventually. This season.
We've spent years talking to the coaches and sports scientists behind Grand Tour winners about what actually makes riders faster uphill. Dan Lorang, Head of Performance at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. Joe Friel, who wrote the book on structured training. John Wakefield at Bora-Hansgrohe. The advice they give their pros translates directly to the amateur rider — and most of it costs nothing but attention.
In this guide:
- Why you get dropped on climbs
- Pacing — the number one fix
- Power-to-weight ratio explained
- Cadence on climbs
- Position and bike fit for climbing
- The mental side of climbing
- Descending — the other half
- What the experts say
- Frequently asked questions
Why You Get Dropped on Climbs
You're not new to the bike. You train. You've done the hard work. And yet on the climb, you're watching wheels just drift away from you.
The truth is that getting dropped on climbs is rarely about fitness alone. Most of the riders who get shelled out the back of a group on a climb could stay with that group — if they fixed the small leaks that add up to minutes on every meaningful ascent.
Five fixable reasons your climbing is slow:
- Pacing — you go too hard at the bottom and fade at the top.
- Power-to-weight ratio — but not in the way the internet tells you to fix it.
- Cadence — you're grinding when you should be spinning.
- Position and bike fit — your hip angle is costing you watts on steep gradients.
- The mental game — the most misunderstood factor, and often the fastest fix.
Here's how each one works — and how to fix it.
→ Read the full guide: 5 Fixable Reasons You Climb Slowly → Read the full guide: How to Stop Getting Dropped on Climbs
Pacing — The Number One Fix
If you fix one thing about your climbing, fix your pacing. It's the single biggest difference between the rider who crests the top of a climb with the group and the one who blows up at two thirds distance.
Here's what happens to most amateur cyclists on a climb: the group speeds up at the bottom, you match the acceleration, your heart rate spikes, and three minutes later you're cooked. You've spent your matches before the climb even gets hard.
There's no point following someone up a climb if they're racing up it. You have to concentrate on your own effort. Bradley Wiggins understood this better than almost anyone — he used to ride the climb rather than ride against his rivals. Same road, completely different approach.
How to pace a long climb:
| Climb Section | Target Effort |
|---|---|
| Bottom third | Controlled — 5-10% below threshold. Let others go. |
| Middle third | Settle into sustainable rhythm. Steady power output. |
| Top third | Maintain — or push if you've paced correctly. |
The riders who pace well don't look fast at the bottom. They look fast at the top — because they're the ones still riding at the same speed while everyone else is fading.
→ Read the full guide: Pacing Strategy for Long Climbs
Power-to-Weight Ratio Explained
W/kg is the number that matters most on a climb. Gravity doesn't care about your FTP in absolute watts — it cares about how many watts you produce per kilogram you're hauling up the hill.
Here's a practical benchmark most people ask about. What W/kg do you need for Alpe d'Huez?
| Target Time | Required W/kg (approx) |
|---|---|
| Under 60 minutes | ~4.0 W/kg |
| ~75 minutes | ~3.5 W/kg |
| ~90 minutes | ~3.0 W/kg |
| Comfortable finish | ~2.5 W/kg |
The two paths to improving W/kg: increase power, or decrease body weight. The cyclists with the best long-term outcomes do both — but here's the thing nobody tells you: chasing weight loss through crash dieting will cost you power faster than you lose fat. Proper fuelling and body composition over 12-16 weeks is the model that works.
→ Read the full guide: Watts Per Kg for Alpe d'Huez → Read the full guide: How to Ride Alpe d'Huez — Training and Pacing
Cadence on Climbs
Most riders grind too hard on climbs. They drop into their lowest gear, push a cadence of 55-60 RPM, and wonder why their legs are destroyed halfway up.
The right climbing cadence for most amateur cyclists sits between 70-85 RPM. That's higher than most people think. A higher cadence shifts more of the load onto your cardiovascular system and away from your muscular system — and your cardiovascular system recovers faster between efforts.
That said, this isn't one-size-fits-all. When I had John Wakefield on the podcast, he talked about low-cadence interval protocols that force type 2 muscle fibres to develop aerobic capacity. Those sessions — 4-minute efforts at 40-60 RPM on a climb — are training tools, not climbing strategy. On race day or a long sportive, you want a cadence that's sustainable, not a cadence that's building fitness.
Quick cadence guide for climbs:
| Gradient | Suggested Cadence | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 3-5% | 80-90 RPM | Close to flat-road cadence |
| 6-8% | 75-85 RPM | Find your rhythm |
| 9-12% | 70-80 RPM | Gearing matters — check your cassette |
| 12%+ | 65-75 RPM | Short steep pitches — standing is fine |
→ Read the full guide: Best Cadence for Climbing
Position and Bike Fit for Climbing
On steep gradients, your hip angle closes. If your saddle position isn't right for climbing, you're losing watts without realising it — and it gets worse the steeper the road gets.
Key position adjustments for climbing:
- Stay seated for sustained efforts. Seated climbing is more efficient — lower heart rate, lower oxygen cost, more sustainable power. Standing is for short accelerations and steep pitches where you need the extra force.
- Hands on the tops or hoods. Opens the chest, improves breathing. The drops are for descending.
- Slide back on the saddle slightly. Engages the glutes more. On steep climbs, your weight naturally shifts forward — consciously sitting back counteracts that.
- Bike fit matters more than you think. Saddle height that's perfect on the flat can become restrictive on a 10% gradient. If you've never had a professional bike fit, that's the single best investment you can make.
The Mental Side of Climbing
Here's where it gets really interesting — and where most riders leave the biggest gains on the table. The mental game is the most misunderstood factor in climbing. Fixing it is often the fastest way to stop getting dropped.
Three things happen in your head on a climb that sabotage your legs:
- You catastrophise early. The road tilts up, you look at your head unit, you see a red gradient, and your brain starts telling you this is going to hurt before it actually does.
- Negative self-talk compounds. "I'm going to get dropped" becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The moment you accept you're getting dropped, your power output drops measurably.
- You race the climb instead of riding it. You watch other riders instead of watching your own numbers. Comparison is the thief of pacing.
The fix isn't motivational quotes. It's process focus. Set a target power or heart rate and ride to that number. Don't look at the riders ahead of you. Don't look at how far you have left. Ride the minute you're in.
→ Read the full guide: How to Stop Getting Dropped on Climbs
Descending — The Other Half
You can't talk about climbing without talking about descending. There's no point gaining two minutes on the way up if you lose three minutes on the way down because you're riding the brakes.
Descending is a skill, and like any skill, it improves with practice and specific technique work. The riders who descend well do three things: they look further ahead, they brake before the corner rather than through it, and they trust the tyres.
→ Read the full guide: How to Descend Faster on a Road Bike
What the Experts Say
- Dan Lorang — Head of Performance at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, long-time coach to Jan Frodeno and Anne Haug — on the training methodologies that build climbing power at the highest level and how they translate to amateur cyclists.
- Joe Friel — author of The Cyclist's Training Bible — on periodisation, structured training, and building sustained climbing power over a full season.
- John Wakefield — Bora-Hansgrohe coach — on low-cadence interval protocols that develop aerobic capacity in fast-twitch muscle fibres, and how to structure climbing-specific training blocks.
→ Hear the conversations: All Podcast Guests
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I stop getting dropped on climbs? Start with pacing. Most riders who get dropped went too hard at the bottom of the climb. Set a target power or heart rate you can sustain for the entire ascent and ride to that number, not to the wheel in front of you. Then work through cadence, position, and the mental game. These are all fixable — and most of them produce results within weeks, not months.
What W/kg do I need for Alpe d'Huez? Around 4.0 W/kg will get you up in under 60 minutes. Around 3.5 W/kg puts you at roughly 75 minutes. Both are achievable targets for a serious amateur cyclist with structured training. The Alpe is steep but predictable — the key is pacing the 21 hairpins rather than attacking the first five and fading.
Should I climb seated or standing? Seated for sustained efforts — it's more efficient, lower heart rate, more sustainable. Standing for short steep pitches (over 12%), out-of-the-saddle accelerations, and moments when you need to change muscle recruitment to give your legs a brief reset. Most amateurs stand too much on climbs and burn matches they can't afford.
How do I pace a long climb? Start 5-10% below your threshold power. Let other riders go at the bottom — you'll see most of them again in the final third when they fade. Keep your effort steady through the middle section. If you've paced correctly, you'll have something left for the top. The best climbers in the world don't look fast at the bottom. They look fast at the top.
What cadence should I use when climbing? For most amateur cyclists, 70-85 RPM works well on typical road gradients. That's higher than most people's instinct — the natural temptation is to grind at 55-60 RPM, but that loads the muscles at the expense of the cardiovascular system. Experiment on training rides to find your personal sweet spot within that range.