100km Hilly Long Ride: Climbing Endurance Session

Session Overview

This 90-plus-minute session targets the long-course triathlete preparing for a hilly bike course — think Challenge Roth, IRONMAN UK, or any event with significant elevation gain. At 100km with structured climbing, you will build both the aerobic endurance and the pacing discipline required to ride hard uphills while still having legs for the run. Advanced athletes only — you should be comfortable riding 70 to 80km before attempting this session.

What You’ll Need

• Road or triathlon bike with a gear ratio suitable for sustained climbing
• Power meter or heart rate monitor (power strongly preferred)
• Nutrition: 60 to 90g of carbohydrate per hour — plan for 4 to 5 hours of riding
• Two large water bottles; plan route to include refill stops
• Cycling computer with elevation data and navigation
• Puncture repair kit and CO2 inflator

Warm-Up (15 minutes)

Start with the first 15km at Zone 2 effort (60 to 70% FTP or 65 to 75% max HR). Keep cadence above 85rpm. This is not optional for a session this long — skipping the warm-up leads to premature fatigue on the climbs and increases injury risk.

Main Set

The heart of this session is structured climbing work within a long endurance ride. Choose a route with at least 1,200m of elevation gain over the 100km — rolling hills or a course with 3 to 4 distinct climbs of 5 to 10 minutes each works well.

• Kilometres 0 to 15: Zone 2 warm-up (60 to 70% FTP)
• Kilometres 15 to 70: Aerobic endurance at 68 to 75% FTP on flats; climb at 80 to 90% FTP on uphills; recover on descents
• Kilometres 70 to 90: Maintain Zone 2 effort — nutrition and pacing become critical here
• Kilometres 90 to 100: Final 10km at Zone 3 tempo effort (75 to 85% FTP) to simulate the bike-to-run fatigue of race day

Cool-Down (10 minutes)

Final 3 to 5km at very easy spinning (55 to 60% FTP, cadence above 90rpm). Prioritise nutrition immediately after dismounting: 60 to 80g of fast carbohydrate plus 25 to 30g of protein within 30 minutes. This session is recovery-intensive — plan a lighter day the day after.

Coaching Notes

• Pacing on climbs: aim for consistent power output rather than speed. Surging on steep sections wastes energy you will need in hour 4 and beyond.
• Cadence on climbs: aim for 70 to 75rpm on steep gradients to preserve muscular endurance for the run. Grinding a big gear at 50rpm depletes your quads rapidly.
• Eat before you are hungry: at this duration, most athletes fall behind on fuelling between hours 2 and 4. Set a timer to eat every 25 minutes.
• Scaling down: shorten to 75km if 100km is beyond your current training load. The pacing principles are the same.