And they have elite genetics.
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hey. so april-may - broken forearm, ~2 months without a bike, after that I returned with a lot of volume (from CTL 50 to 89 - in 35 days), to do gran fondo at the end of June (411TSS, 6h30m, 165km, 3800m elev. - it went quite well).
In Aug I did only MTB - no power data (I was in another country without my road bike), and then I returned in Sept to my road bike, It felt good (still weaker than in March 
) and then I lost motivation, maybe more personal reasons (+ a bit of being still weaker than in a winter)
Do they really? Big mountain stages, sure, but half of the stages in a grand tour will probably be less than 250.
I stand by what I said earlier that youāre just doing intervals not really training. Your weekend rides probably make your vo2 work significantly less effective and your unstructured threshold rides likely arenāt long enough to move the needle.
I feel I know the answer already but when was your last rest or recovery week?
as I mentioned, I started more structured riding again in mid Nov, so like 4 weeks ago.
Structure goes beyond I do X on Y day. How have you vo2 workouts progressed over the last 4 weeks? Are you doing more time at threshold now than you were when you started on Thursdays?
And they are the best of the best of the best, sir!
They have extremely rare genetics, a huge training history, do tons of low stress training to build up their endurance, and have professionals precisely guiding their training, fueling, nutrition and sleep. Not to mention that this is their day job.
You are not them. Set aside your ego and hold back from chasing that exhausted feeling so much.
Do you have a decade plus of 25-35hr weeks with little to no breaks?
Do you have the genetics that allow you to sustain that volume without breaking down?
I think of the OP was at 4.75 w/kg and targeting 5 w/kg, this would be a bit of a different conversation.
Being at 3.75 w/kg with this volume of training leads me to believe that itās not productive enough to allow much progression.
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I didnāt progress my intervals, I was just doing what I was able to do, so 4x4min vo2max. and if I felt good, Iād add one more (not to kill legs, but to accumulate TiZ).
Threshold ride - If I was feeling good, Iād go close to 100%FTP on climbs, if a bit weaker, closer to 90%FTP.
Is that progression (block periodisation) so important? should I start with specifically shorter intervals to progress later? or start with something I know I can handle (like 4x4) and next weeks make it even harder? (5x4mins, or 4x5mins),
Iāll read more about it now.
āthe problemā is, I like to ride (it clears my mind and allows me to relax) and Iām not bound by time 
Thatās a surefire sign your training is not actually getting you anywhere. First of, it violates the principle of progressive overload, i. e. you want to make intervals harder, then rest to give your body the opportunity to rebuild your body stronger. Secondly, it shows you arenāt making progress.
Yes, progression and periodization are essential elements of any training plan. Two further principles are specificity and individualization. Different training philosophies (e. g. sweet spot base vs. polarized base) put these fundamental training principles into practice in different ways.
If you donāt know what a properly periodized plan looks like, I suggest you sign up for TR (if you havenāt already), have it build a training plan for you and follow that for one season. A few thoughts:
- I would strongly suggest you give up on this bananas group ride and lower your training volume.
- When training, your goal is not to maximize your TSS, but to nail your workouts. And you might have to reduce the number of hard workouts to ensure you can nail them.
- Not all workouts need to be equally hard. In most situations you want the first workout of the week to be the hardest.
- Importantly, stick to rest weeks and take them seriously. This is literally the time when you get stronger, because you give your body the opportunity to make adaptations to rising demands.
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How are you doing that volume and āonlyā 3.75w/k?
This is probably OK. The intensity is the stimulus.
Probably not OK. Start with something comfortably within your current capabilities like - hopefully - 3 Ć 10 mins at 5 watts below your FTP with 5 minute recoveries. Then add time to intervals and add intervals until youāre doing maybe 3 Ć 20 or 2 Ć 30.
Iād consider doing a threshold block, having a proper easy week, then doing a VO2 block. Then retest FTP and see where you are.
Get a coach. Or follow a program here on TR. Youāll progress better than what youāre doing. And youāll be able to fit in a group ride too.
well.. i guess i built quite good endurance. last year I was still able to do 10-15mins climbs at ~90%FTP after having 180km and 3k elev. in legs. Or riding Gran Canaria for 5 days in a row (100-120km, 2500-3000m elev. every day, albeit ārelaxedā)
I totally get this. As a teacher I can bring a lot of angst home with me and even a 30 min noodle ride or hoping on the trainer at 50-60% helps hit the reset button. So if riding is what brings you joyā¦ and for your mental health than by all means do it!
All that said I think you need to take a step back and look at the whole picture. What are your goals? What do you enjoy doing? We are all differentā¦ some race, some want to increase their FTP, some just enjoy riding and being fit year round.
I donāt think you need to cut the group ride if that is what you do this for. But I do think you should plan around that ride if it is a priority for you. Make sure the day after you take a day off (350 TSS on the lower end is still a big day). Go for a walk instead of a bike rideā¦ that way you still feel like you are doing something and allows for that decompression time. Then maybe another 2-3 days of easy riding. Then you can do a focused workout that aligns with your goal. Go through the periodization process of endurance/sweet spot/VO2/Threshold then take a season break, go on vacation and start to rebuild again.
I think the issue is the group ride, per your comment above, can become Gran Fondo / race like. Those are fun but you just need to make sure you recover from them.
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