My main question is around the training required for a mtb stage race. I am planning on doing BCBR this year, and have never really raced XC before or stage races. I am a long time mountain biker, but I have never raced. I am entering the specialty phase, which seems to transition to mostly V02 and anaerobic training. I assume this is why FTP prediction suggest I will have a lower ftp in one month. If I was racing a one off XC race I get how repeated surges of power could be more important than sustained threshold efforts, but given it is a whole week of racing I wonder if this is still the case. Does the algorithm understand stage racing? I would appreciate any advice that could be offered. Should I modify my event in the calendar to try and alter my training, or just start doing a bunch of anaerobic and v02 max sessions as recommended? thanks in advance.
Your FTP will be fine, however you might be slightly worse at level 3 threshold workouts 
Unfortunately it doesnt say so, it says FTP.
Ok! Thanks. I’m going to try a XC race soon to see what the effort actually looks like. I assume XCO is just a lot of punchy efforts. In fairness I do really struggle to hit a consistent power on MTB trails. Probably more important to work on short bursts vs sustained power.
1% is basically a measurement error. It’s not worth worrying about.
Prior to the events you focus on the niches of that event, in this case, a fair bit of anaerobic work which won’t move your ftp but will raise your short term power curve and make you more resilient for those efforts. You may lose a tiny bit of power from whatever your definition of ftp is, but you’ll still be faster overall.
Hey @cupcakecadence 
BCBR!!! So fun!!!
I just wanted to add to @GonnaeNo post that in the Specialty Phase we don’t tend to see FTP gains, not we recommend changing your FTP.
Specialty Phase training plans integrate the principle of specificity into training. Each training plan in this training phase strives to be as specific to your target events or riding discipline as possible . So the workouts you’ll find in this training phase focus on the specific cycling goals/efforts that you’ll be faced with on the road, mud, gravel, or whatever tickles your fancy.
In the Specialty Phase leading up to your race the plan introduces 1-2 taper weeks. The idea here is to keep you fresh and peak you for race day! So leading up to your event, you keep the cobwebs off the legs without overdoing it 