Learn how professional cyclists train and understand the data-driven metrics that power their performance.
Evidence-based training approaches used by WorldTour teams and professional cyclists to build fitness and peak for races.
Long, steady rides at low intensity (Z2) to build mitochondrial density, capillary networks, and fat oxidation—the foundation for all future fitness.
Structured hard efforts alternated with recovery periods to improve VO2 Max, anaerobic capacity, and neuromuscular power.
A training distribution where 80% of time is spent at low intensity (Z1-Z2) and 20% at high intensity (Z5+), avoiding the moderate 'grey zone'.
The strategic reduction of training volume while maintaining intensity to shed fatigue and peak for key events.
Sustained intervals near or slightly below FTP (88-105% of FTP) to raise lactate threshold and improve time-trial performance.
Power-based analytics and performance metrics explained in plain English. Understand what the numbers mean and how to use them.
The percentage drift between power and heart rate during the two halves of a ride, measuring aerobic endurance.
The theoretical power threshold you can sustain for a very long duration without fatigue from anaerobic contribution.
The ratio of Normalized Power to average Heart Rate, used to track aerobic fitness changes.
A weighted average of your daily TSS over the last 7 days, representing your short-term fatigue.
A weighted average of your daily TSS over the last 42 days, representing your long-term training base.
The difference between your Fitness (CTL) and Fatigue (ATL), indicating your readiness to perform.
The highest average power you can sustain for approximately one hour, measured in watts.
The ratio of the Normalized Power to your Functional Threshold Power, giving you a relative measure of how hard a ride was.
An estimate of the power you could have maintained for the same physiological cost if your power output had been perfectly constant.
Seven distinct training levels based on your FTP, used to target specific physiological adaptations.
A composite number that takes into account the duration and intensity of a workout to estimate the overall training load and physiological stress created by that training session.
A measure of your vertical ascent speed, typically expressed in vertical meters per hour (Vm/h).
A measure of how smooth or 'steady' your power output was during a ride.
The maximum volume of oxygen your body can utilize during intense exercise.
The finite amount of energy available for efforts above your Critical Power.
Power output relative to body weight, the gold standard for comparing climbing ability.
The total mechanical energy expended during a ride, often a better calorie estimator than heart rate.
Understanding performance-enhancing substances, cycling's doping history, and modern anti-doping measures. Educational content about what's banned and why.
Stimulant drugs that reduce fatigue and increase alertness, historically common in cycling but now easily detected and rarely used.
Synthetic testosterone derivatives that enhance muscle growth, strength, and recovery but are banned in competitive cycling.
An anti-doping program that monitors athletes' biological markers over time to detect doping through abnormal variations.
The practice of storing and re-infusing blood to boost oxygen-carrying capacity, exposed in major scandals like Operation Puerto.
The illegal practice of increasing red blood cell count through transfusions or EPO to enhance oxygen delivery and endurance.
A third-generation EPO variant designed to evade detection but eventually caught multiple high-profile cyclists in 2008.
Anti-inflammatory drugs that can enhance performance when misused but are permitted with legitimate medical exemptions (TUEs).
A banned hormone that stimulates red blood cell production, increasing oxygen-carrying capacity and endurance performance.
A banned peptide hormone that promotes muscle growth, fat loss, and recovery, difficult to detect but subject to strict monitoring.
The use of hidden motors in bicycles to gain unfair mechanical advantage, a form of technological fraud in cycling.
Legal but controversial pain medications that allow cyclists to push through suffering, recently banned due to safety and fairness concerns.
The use of synthetic testosterone to enhance muscle growth, recovery, and aggression - one of the oldest forms of doping in cycling.