With British summer time on the horizon many cyclists thoughts will turn to summer sportives. If you’ve signed up for a sportive this year, why not try one of the following Wattbike sessions, which have been designed specifically to help you tackle the challenges of a sportive.
Try these three indoor trainer sessions to prepare for sportives.
If you are tackling your first sportive this summer this is a great session to start with. You will be working primarily in zone 1 which helps to establish base fitness, plus you’ll add zone 3 intervals to improve your endurance and sustainable power.
Total time 45 minutes
| Element | Duration | Training Zone/ RPM |
| Warm up | 10 minutes | 1 minute at 80 rpm 1 minute at 85 rpm 1 minute at 90 rpm 1 minute at 95 rpm 1 minute at 100 rpm 1 minute at 80 rpm 6 second sprint 54 second recovery Repeat sprint and recovery 2 minutes at 80 rpm |
| Base fitness builder | 7.5 minutes | Zone 1 - 90 rpm |
| Interval 1 | 5 minutes | Zone 3 - 90-95 rpm |
| Base fitness builder | 10 minutes | Zone 1 - 90 rpm |
| Interval 2 | 5 minutes | Zone 3 - 90-95 rpm |
| Cool down | 8 minutes | Recovery |
If you’re a season sportive rider or regular cyclist looking to improve your sustainable speed during an upcoming sportive, try this session during your taper or pre-competition period. The zone 4 intervals will improve your sustainable race pace.
Total time: 49 minutes
| Element | Duration | Training Zone/ RPM |
| Warm up | 10 minutes | 1 minute at 80 rpm 1 minute at 85 rpm 1 minute at 90 rpm 1 minute at 95 rpm 1 minute at 100 rpm 1 minute at 80 rpm 6 second sprint 54 second recovery Repeat sprint and recovery 2 minutes at 80 rpm |
| Base fitness builder | 15 minutes | Zone 1 - 90 rpm |
| Interval 1 | 4 minutes | Zone 4 - 95-100 rpm |
| Base fitness builder | 8 minutes | Zone 1 - 90 rpm |
| Interval 2 | 4 minutes | Zone 4 - 95-100 rpm |
| Cool down | 8 minutes | Recovery |
If you’re looking to beat the bunch and are an experienced cyclist, try this session. The zone 4-5 intervals will help you develop resistance to short term fatigue.
Total time: 30 minutes
| Element | Duration | Training Zone/ RPM |
| Warm up | 10 minutes | 1 minute at 80 rpm 1 minute at 85 rpm 1 minute at 90 rpm 1 minute at 95 rpm 1 minute at 100 rpm 1 minute at 80 rpm 6 second sprint 54 second recovery Repeat sprint and recovery 2 minutes at 80 rpm |
| Interval 1 | 2 minutes | Top of zone 4 - zone 5 at 95-100 rpm |
| Recovery | 4 minutes | Recovery zone |
| Interval 2 | 2 minutes | Top of zone 4 - zone 5 at 95-100 rpm |
| Recovery | 4 minutes | Recovery zone |
| Cool down | 8 minutes | Recovery |
Whilst you can use any of these sessions as a standalone workout, they’re much more effective when used as part of a wider training plan. If you’re training for a sportive, take a look at our beginners sportive training plan or active cyclists sportive plan if you are looking to improve.
