Hallo legends,
I race in Germany which is a mix of about 70% kermesses and 30% criteriums. These kermesses are pretty standard in length between 2-4kms in length but always with a pretty brutal 2 min climb in them. Normally averaging around 8-12%. Im pretty strong at crits, but 2 min power is my weakness, especially repeated 15 times!
For context im 74kg with an ftp of 330. So I know I could get a few kilos lighter and my FTP is slowly rising.
The strategy for these races is simple; first lap stupid hard, second lap a little less stupid hard, third lap a little less stupid hard again, then a 2 min vo2max effort for the remainder of the race and becoming essentially a race of attrition.
Now from what I can see there are no plans that work to tackle this type of racing. The Rolling Road Race and Climbing specific plans do not have this specificity. However the Criterium plan has some great workouts for this general type of fitness, however not so specific.
I have trawled the holy backlog of workouts in the TR library and have found more than a few workouts that could be substituted for the workouts intended to extend the period of time one can hold 120% of FTP at in the plan.
These include Abbot - Bashful - Bird -1 - Midway - Polemonium and Angora.
What are the thoughts on replacing the vo2max workouts in the plan with these workouts? In what order do people think is best?
Bird -1 → Angora → Polemonium → Midway was my idea.
Also anyone know how I could structure a workout specifically designed to work 2min vo2max power about 120 - 140% ftp with about 15 reps to simulate a race? Is something like the following even possible? Or recommended?
All reps 2 mins with 3 mins rest
2 x@ 140% FTP
1 @ 135%
1 @ 130%
10 @ 120%
2 @ 130%
Anyone got any recommendations how I could build a progression of workouts to target this type of race?
Thank you everyone as usual in advance for your advice/information.
Marek