Written by: Bruce Buckley

Spring is near—time to defrost those legs. After hours of winter base miles, cyclists can start getting serious with short, intense intervals sessions targeted at addressing weaknesses and honing strengths. To come up with some killer intervals, we recruited elite-level cycling coach and author of Training and Racing with a Power Meter, Hunter Allen, who designed three challenging sessions that can be added to cyclists’ weekly training programs and help them meet specific goals.

Efforts are based on threshold, which is the highest effort a cyclist can maintain for one hour. This can be gauged with a power meter or by using a mix of perceived effort and heart rate.

Make sure to begin each session with a good 20-minute warm-up at around 75 percent of threshold, adding in several 1-minute high-cadence spins. Finish each session with a 15- to 20-minute cool-down. Now strap those shoes tight and prepare to burn:


Improve your Time Trial
This workout, which consists of three 15-minute intervals, is aimed at increasing the power you can maintain for one hour—also called functional threshold. Start by riding at 95 percent of threshold for 2 minutes, then drop a gear or two to bring the effort to between 115 percent and 125 percent of threshold for 30 seconds and return to the previous pace. Continue adding in the same 30-second hard effort every two minutes until the end of the 15 minutes. Recover for 10 minutes between intervals.


Improve your Sprint
This series of sprints builds in intensity and requires winding up your cadence to the max. Find an empty stretch of pavement that is at least 500-meters long. Starting in the small ring up front and two cogs down from the top gear in the back, do six 50-yard sprints in that gear with an emphasis on the initial jump. Rest for 1-2 minutes between intervals. Next, switch to your big ring up front and the 17-tooth cog in the rear. Get your speed up to 20 mph and do six 250-meter sprints, shifting to the 16 cog in the back once you max out your cadence in the 17. Rest for two minutes between intervals. Next, do three big-ring sprints, starting at 23 mph in the 16 cog and shifting twice to finish in the 14 cog. The final sprint starts at 30 mph in the big ring and a 15 cog in the rear. Max out your cadence and finish in the 13 cog.


Improve your Attack
These intervals are designed to improve VO2 Max and mimic the effort of a rider who attacks during races. Aim for five to eight intervals. Begin each with an all-out 30-second sprint, staying out of the saddle for the first half. Keep pushing and hammer out a 3-minute effort at or above threshold. Finish with a 10-second out-of-the-saddle sprint. Rest for 5 to 6 minutes between each interval. Haven’t had enough? Finish with eight 1-minute high-cadence intervals with 1-minute rest between each before starting your cool down.