Race week

Cut the hours. Keep a few hard efforts, but fewer of them. That is the taper.

Most riders go one of three ways. All easy, and they show up flat. Or they keep a full training week, and they show up tired. Or they throw in a big interval session trying to grab extra fitness. That last one does not work.

The last two weeks will not add significant fitness. Going too easy can take the sharpness off. Going too hard leaves the fatigue in. The taper is there to drop the fatigue and keep a little intensity so the legs stay ready. It is not there to build more.

The rule

For an A-race:

• Start the taper about 2 weeks out.
• Cut overall weekly volume by about half. Forty to sixty percent is the range.
• Also cut the volume of any intervals that week. Keep the intensity. Same watts. Fewer reps. Shorter sessions. Not a new VO2 block.
• Keep riding most days. Do not turn the week into three days off and one last hard ride.

When in doubt, ease off. Going a little too easy in race week beats going a little too hard. There is more downside to doing too much in those two weeks than doing a little too little.

What people get backwards

Going fully easy feels safe. It can also take the sharpness off.

Keeping a regular training week feels like you are doing something. It can also be how you do not show up to the race ready to go.

A big interval session in the last two weeks will not add significant fitness. The extra fatigue is not worth it.

A, B, and C

A-race: two weeks. Volume down about half. Intensity stays, but there is less of it.

B-race: one week. Cut volume the week going into the race. Keep a short hard touch. Do not run a full two-week taper.

C-race / midweek crit: no taper. That race is a hard session. Count it in the 3-hour cap. Do not also stack a VO2 day on top of it.

The last 48 hours

No 2-hour threshold. No new test.

One short ride with a few openers is enough. An opener is a short effort at race pace, or a bit under. Ten to thirty seconds. A few of them. Full recoveries. Just enough to wake the legs. Not a workout.

If the plan still has a long VO2 set two days out, shorten it. Same watts. Fewer reps. Then go home.

When in doubt, ease off.

Do not start a new block

The last 10 days will not add significant fitness. Extra work here mostly adds fatigue.

When the hard work in the taper is done, stop.