Did you watch Christopher Froome (Team SKY) on Stage 8 of the Tour de France? During the last 7km, he could ride faster than any of his competitors. It was mainly a steady, hard pace that allowed him to reach the finish line more than 1.45min before his worst opponent. I’ve seen a few discussions about whether Froome is clean or not (based on his power to Watts ratio on that last hill). I won’t go into that discussion.
Instead, I will point out three legal and essential ingredients that Froome has used in his preparation to maximize his threshold power.
And you can implement these strategies in your training formula today.
It’s unclear if this is enough for you to reach the Tour de France in 2014, but if you make it, please leave a notice.
#Ingredient 1 – Consistency
If you aim to increase your threshold power, you need to be consistent. You have to stick to your training program day after day, week after week, month after month, for however long it takes to reach your goals. Significant improvements in threshold power won’t happen overnight. So take a long-term approach: Each workout should take you a little closer to your destination.
Keep in mind that if you want to improve your threshold power and cycling abilities overall, you need to be patient. First, allow yourself the time to improve and reach your cycling goals. Then, commit to working hard every time you hop on your bike and make sure you do your best to maximize your results.
#Ingredient 2 – Structure
One of the best ways to achieve better results without working harder is to add structure to your training. A solid training plan is both motivating and will boost your threshold power.
If you don’t think you can stick with a structured program, you might be better with a different approach.
By making Tuesdays and Thursdays interval days and Saturdays or Sundays for long rides, you will get some basic structure to your training that will accelerate your progress.
#Ingredient 3 – Interval training
Interval training is my favorite way to boost threshold power. Adding structured interval training two or three times per week will help you ride significantly faster within four to six weeks. The majority of intervals should be sub-threshold intervals.
Though, there is no doubt that adding threshold power and VO2 max intervals to your training program very likely might be the missing ingredient to reach your physiological potential. If you are not time-crunched, adding a few long-distance steady, pace rides will add more power to your aerobic engine.
So even though I don’t know Christopher Froome’s training program, I’m pretty sure that the above three ingredients are cornerstones in his daily training routine. So take advantage of these simple but effective and proven methods to improve your performance.