Century Training Plan
Twelve weeks to a 100-mile ride. The weekend ride ramps from two hours to four and a half, with sweet spot and tempo work midweek to make those hours cheaper.
← Training plansW1Threshold returns
W2VO2 enters
W3First peak
W4Recovery week
W5Classic VO2
W6Volume and intensity
W7Peak week
W8Sharpen and test
Specialty · 12 weeks · 4 rides a week Specialty · 12 weeks · 5 rides a week Specialty · 6 weeks · 4 rides a week
Build phase · intermediate · 8 weeks
8-week sustained power build plan
Base made you durable. This makes you fast. A base block raises how long you can go. A build block raises how hard. This one runs threshold intervals as the backbone, adds VO2 max work to lift the ceiling above threshold, and keeps enough Zone 2 in the week that you can absorb both.
Free, with no trial. Pick a start date and your training days; the sessions land on your own calendar. Switch or stop at any point. Every workout in it can be ridden without an account.
Weeks8
Rides a week4
Typical week5:30
Biggest week7:43
Week by week
EnduranceTempoThresholdVO2 max● Key session
W1Threshold returns246
Week 1: 2×15 at threshold. Harder than sweet spot and it should feel it. Keep the endurance rides honest-easy.
W2VO2 enters272
Week 2: 4×8 at VO2. These are pacing exercises — go out too hard on interval one and the set is over.
W3First peak313
Week 3: the full threshold builder and 5×5 VO2 in the same week. The hardest week of block one.
W4Recovery week131
Week 4: recovery. Take it fully — the second block is where the fitness actually appears.
W5Classic VO2244
Week 5: threshold plus 4×4, the most studied VO2 session there is. Five minutes easy between efforts.
W6Volume and intensity373
Week 6: 3×20 sweet spot, 4×8 VO2, and a three-hour ride. Sleep and eat like it matters, because this week it does.
W7Peak week300
Week 7: threshold builder and 4×5 VO2. The last genuinely hard week of the block.
W8Sharpen and test145
Week 8: openers and a test. You should arrive at the test feeling springy rather than fresh.
Every session is a real workout you can open and ride now. Starting the plan schedules all 32 from your chosen date, on the days you pick.
Start Sustained Power BuildRide this plan if
- You have just finished a base block and your event is 8–12 weeks out.
- You can ride four times a week, six to eight hours.
- You want threshold and VO2 work in a structure, not scattered across a calendar.
What you get out of it
- Threshold intervals extended from 2×15 to a full threshold builder.
- A block of VO2 max work — the fastest lever on aerobic ceiling.
- Race-relevant power that a specialty plan can then sharpen.
How the plan is built
It is designed to be ridden after sweet spot base or a winter base block. Coming into it without that foundation is the most common way riders blow up in week five: the intervals are not harder than base intervals by a little, they are harder by a lot.
Eight weeks, four rides, one recovery week at the midpoint, and a retest at the end that also serves as the entry point to a specialty plan.
- Two blocks of three loading weeks, split by a recovery week.
- Two hard days a week — threshold and VO2 — never back to back.
- The long ride stays in the plan. Build does not mean abandoning endurance.
Sustained Power Build: common questions
What is a build block in cycling training?
It is the phase between base and your event. Base builds aerobic capacity with high volume at low intensity; build converts that into power at and above threshold, with lower volume and much higher intensity.
Do I need a base block before a build plan?
Effectively yes. Threshold and VO2 sessions are only productive if you can recover from them, and recovery capacity is what base builds. Riders who skip base usually stall somewhere in week five.
How many hard days a week should a build plan have?
Two for most riders training six to eight hours, three at the very top end. This plan uses two, separated by easy days, because the adaptation happens in the recovery rather than during the interval.
What to ride after this
Training works in blocks. These plans pick up where this one leaves off.
Gran Fondo Training Plan
Twelve weeks and five rides a week for a long, hilly event: endurance volume, sweet spot and threshold power, and dedicated low-cadence climbing work.
Criterium Sharpener
Six weeks of race sharpening: hard starts, 30/30 repeaters, Rønnestad intervals, and primers, for riders whose events are decided by repeated surges.