By Dan Strauss
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Last year I wrote a piece on how ergo training is horrible, but that it works. I detailed three different one-hour sessions for you to try. Have a read if you haven’t already.
Here’s another couple of sessions that I have been using so far this year. I’m not a coach, but they seem to work for me and replicate race conditions quite well. I recommend using the Lemond Revolution.
I’m a big advocate of sessions that are simple, and painful but achievable. Both sessions involve a 20 structured minute warmup, 30 minute main-set and 10 minute cool-down. They should be easy to remember as each main set is structured around 5 minute sets.
The first session “The Longest Twenty Seconds of Your Life” is essentially a sprint session that is useful in replicating the last part of a road race, or most of a crit.
The second session “Building the Pyramids” is useful for hilly races or when you’re in a break.
Enjoy (or don’t).
The Longest Twenty Seconds of Your Life
20 minute warm-up
10 minute easy spin
5 minute seated strength effort at low cadence ~6orpm
5 minute high cadence ~100rpm
30 minute main set
3 sets of:
5 x 1 minute rolling 20/40s (20sec MAX seated sprint, 40sec easy
5 minutes tempo ~70% recovery
10 minute cool-down
Building the Pyramids
20 minute warm-up
10 minute easy spin
5 x 1 minute strength (~60 rpm) / 1 minute fast spin (~110 rpm)
30 minute main set – Rolling pyramid of 5 minute sets
HARD is the hardest you can go for that period of time.
EASY is soft-pedalling, like descending before climbing.
3min HARD / 2 min EASY (5min)
2 min HARD / 3 min EASY
1 min HARD / 4 min EASY
1 min HARD / 4 min EASY
2 min HARD / 3 min EASY
3min HARD / 2 min EASY
10 minute cool-down
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Dan is one of our team riders and also runs a bespoke cycling company called Soigneur