The best cycling workouts for the final weeks before a race.

Any good training plan begins with a solid block of base training. Logging as many low intensity miles during the winter months is a crucial phase of your race prep.

As the big day gets nearer though, your training needs to adapt to focus on higher intensity efforts. This is known as specificity, where you start to train specifically for efforts that you will be doing during the race.

While you’re racing, there are likely to be surges, sections where you are expected to recover at your threshold pace and long steady state efforts.

For that reason, lowering the volume you’re doing but increasing the intensity of that volume is key to preparing for a cycling race in the final few weeks. With that in mind, here are my absolute favourite high intensity cycling workouts for the 4-6 weeks before my A races of the season.

VO2 Max Intervals

What I love about this workout is that it is, hands down, the best way to improve your overall FTP as well as your ability to handle hard efforts on race day.

There is a quick warmup, followed by 4 short bursts at anaerobic power. These bursts are essentially to warn your heart that big efforts are coming. I’m a huge fan of Phil Gaimon’s cycling warm up and I’ve used this method in every crit race I’ve ever done. These spikes help replicate this on the bike.

After the warm-up, it’s time to get into the proper stuff. Typically I start off with 4×2 minutes at 120 FTP, but I aim to increase the duration and number of intervals each week. Within a few weeks you’ll want to be up to 5×4 minutes.

I usually do this once a week and as my first workout of the week. It’s a really touch cycling workout and doing it when you’re refreshed at the beginning of the week ensures you’re doing quality work.

After a short recovery, it’s then time to noodle around in zone 2 for as long as your schedule will allow. I try to do 20-60 minutes.

1. Warm up
   10 min @ 55% FTP
2. Repeat 4 times
   1. Hard
      20 sec @ 130% FTP
   2. Easy
      1:40 @ 55% FTP
3. Recovery
   10 min @ 45% FTP
4. Repeat 4 times
   1. VO2 Max
      2 min @ 120% FTP
   2. Recovery
      5 min @ 55% FTP
5. Endurance
   60 min @ 65-70% FTP
6. Cool down
   10 min @ 45% FTP

Over Under Intervals

To my mind, nothing replicates crit racing specifically more so than over under intervals. The constant surging as riders go off the front and the group brings them back, followed by trying to recover at your threshold. Rinse and repeat. Crit races are brutal and so are over under intervals.

Beginners will probably want to do only one set of OU intervals. Once you’re able to get through those, try adding in a second set.

1. Warm up
   20 min @ 45 % of FTP
2. Repeat 4 times
   1. Under
      2 min @ 95 % of FTP
   2. Over
      1 min @ 130 % of FTP
3. Recovery
   10 min @ 55 % of FTP
4. Repeat 4 times
   1. Under
      2 min @ 95 % of FTP
   2. Over
      1 min @ 130 % of FTP
5. Cool Down
   10 min @ 45 % of FTP