Here  are some of the things to look for:

Power Output and Tactics
How much power a rider needs to provide in the lead, in the middle of the bunch or in a break away. If you are lucky you might notice differences between riders effort in the same break away.

Aerodynamics and Pacing in Time Trials
Notice how constant workload the bet riders deliver in time trials. Also you might be able to notice differences in aerodynamics.  In this year’s Tour de France you also have the chance to wath power meter data from team time trials. Who push the highest watts on Team Saxo Bank?

Absolute or Relative Power Output
This is also commonly referred to as watts or watts per kilogram. Who generate the most watts in the flat terrain? Who get first up the hills/mountains? Probably not the same riders, so take a closer look to their watts per kilogram when you compare power output in the mountains.  

Read more about SRM and Tour de France 2009 here:
Versus - SRM Live Tour de France

SRM Crank System

Here is a complete list of cycling training programs on Training4cyclists.com:

12 Week Training Programs

12 Week Winter Training Program
This program can be used of a wide range of cyclists who want a high quality training program for their winter training.

12 Week Pre-Season Cycling Training Program
This program is an example of how you can plan the final 12 weeks before the race season begins. If you have been lazy during the winter, starting on this program might be a good chance to catch up.

Examples of in-season training programs

12hrs/week Cycling Training Program (4wk)

14hrs/week Cycling Training Program (4wk)

16hrs/week Cycling Training Program (4wk)

18hrs/week Cycling Training Program (4wk)

Indoor Cycling Programs

Indoor Cycling Programs - part one
3 super effective indoor training programs that can used on ergometer bike or in the spinning class.

Indoor Cycling Programs - part two
2 Highly effective indoor training programs that will boost your aerobic engine.

VO2 Max Booster Program (Editor’s choice)
This training program will dramatically boost your race performance in only 14 days. The training program can be used by any cyclist, but riders with a SRM or PowerTap mounted on their bike will get the best value. Amazing reports from readers who have tried this program. You can improve your VO2 max dramatically in only 14 days using these workouts.

Strength Training

12 Week Strength Training Program for Cyclists
Here is a very effective strength training program for cyclists. The program is based on multi joint exercises with free weights, which indicate that this program is not for beginners.

Power meters are no longer reserved for elite cyclists, but are now being used by a significant number of amateur riders. Though, power meters are expensive, there are now affordable alternatives to the king of power meters: SRM Crank System.

SRM is considered as the most reliable power meter on the market. However, there are now cheaper alternatives such as PowerTap SL and Ergomo, who represents worthy alternatives. If the financial crisis has arrived in your budget, Polar monitors offers a much cheaper solution that gives you a feeling of what power meter training is. I don’t think it is fair to compare the Polar with the more expensive power meters, simply because the prices are so different. SRM, PowerTap and Ergomo perform much better, but also cost more than twice as much as e.g. Polar CS-600 or iBike Pro.

In brief a power meter shows you how much work you perform (Watt) and a heart rate monitor how hard your body works (pulse / min). This means that a power monitor does not replace the heart rate monitor, but rather complements with data on how hard you are pedaling. It opens a chain of opportunities for interval training, analysis and aerodynamic optimization of equipment etc.

Power Meter Training = Better Training

The main reason to use a power meter in your cycling training is you get a better and more accurate picture of the physiological parameters you want to improve. An old rule of thumb says that you get good at what you train. Using a power meter makes it easy to train exactly what you want to improve.

Your training must be tailored to the properties you want to improve. Based on your past performance in tests, training rides and races, you can plan your interval training exactly as you want it to be. Best of it: It’s not so difficult. Indeed, training with a power meter is easier than for instance heart rate monitor training.

Now you might think: Can I really find out using a power meter? Yes! It’s really easy and it makes a lot of sense to use a power meter, because you get so much valuable information about your performance in training rides and races. Don’t be afraid of the technics. It’s not rocket science to use a power meter and most riders can’t get enough of them when they’ve first started using them. They get addicted to power meter training.

In the upcoming posts I will try to illustrate how simple it can be to benefit from a power meter. If you want to make sure you read those posts, don’t forget to subscribe to RSS or Email updates from Training4cyclists.com.

Image by Unplug.
Dave Simonson had finished 3 ironman competitions before he entered the power meter project back in 2007 so I knew he was a very experienced athlete. If you don’t have a clue on training it is very unlikely that you can finish three ironman competitions. The reason Dave entered the project was because he recently had purchased a power meter. He had bought a Cycleops Pro 300PT (Powertap indoor) and wanted to learn more on power meter training and get some experience.

Optimizing of physiology for an ironman athlete
The goal for Dave was to increase his average power output on long distances (112miles/180km). This is often trained with very long rides at a comfortable pace, but I believe in building up this endurance with intervals close to race speed and even intervals performed at VO2 max once in a while. The reason for these tough intervals is that a higher VO2 max also improves your performance at lower workloads. Another reason for doing intervals close to race speed is to learn the pacing strategy which is made easier than ever before by the development of power meters. Thus, Dave’s program was a combination of short 3min intervals to build VO2max, repeated 6min bouts of high aerobic intensity and finally long 15min pacing control intervals. By doing the intervals very frequently he had a good chance to get familiar with the pacing strategy.

Results
Bike training with high intensity does not require the same amount of time as training with lower intensities. Dave performed 6 to 8 hours weekly training and that was enough to significantly improve his 5min and 20min maximum power output. It is also worth to remember that these increments are achieved with solid indoor training.
Have a look at these numbers that illustrate his impressive progress:

Interview with Dave Simonson after the Power Meter Project
After the project I asked Dave a couple of questions to get his opinion on power meter training:

Your 20min maximum power went from 219Watts in week 1 to 281Watts in week 12. What impact has this increment had on your performance?

Dave: “My improvement has made it much easier for me to gauge my effort on long rides.  Also, I am able to ride long distances faster with less exertion.”

How will you describe your progress through the project?

Dave: “I was surprised that I made the progress I did only on 7-8 hours/week of training.  The training program you created for me really enlightened me to the need for specificity for each workout.”

Have you adapted some of the ideas from the power meter project into your daily training?

Dave: “I have adapted your training plan to my continuing training and now exclusively measure my training performance and training progress using power.  I download my power data into CyclingPeaks software and evaluate my progress and plan my training from a power perspective.”

I have previously posted three quality programs for indoor cycling. These programs are not only easy to understand they are also a very efficient way to train if you don’t have much time for training. The principles used in these training programs are very similar to the ones used in my VO2 Max Booster Program. Another advantage is that it is not necessary to use a heart rate monitor or power meter for pacing even though it certainly will be a good help for an optimal training session.  I will now introduce you to two more indoor cycling programs that really rocks:

Indoor Cycling Programs

Aerobic power 3
10min warm-up
3min (semi-high intensity)
2min low intensity
8 x (3min high intensity + 2min low intensity)
5min cool down

This program gives you 24minutes at very high aerobic oxygen consumption. Your aerobic engine will love this program and you will be glad that these tough intervals are separated into short 3minutes bursts. It is though important to maintain some intensity in the recovery periods since that will help you to recover faster.

Aerobic power 4
10min warm-up
3min (semi-high intensity)
2min low intensity
4 x (6min high intensity + 4min low intensity)
5min cool down

This program also gives you 24minutes at very high aerobic oxygen consumption, but it will be tougher for you to maintain the same power outputs as in ‘Aerobic Power 3’ since the intervals are twice as long. If you compete in time trial events this program is good for pacing control training.

If you use a power meter for pacing then focus on intensity in the difficult parts of the workout and relaxe in the rest periods. There is a big difference between 350 and 380w in the work period so it is here you shall concentrate on your power output. If you get a good recovery in the rest periods that’s fine, don’t worry about your power output here.