Race Week Sharpening Bike: 4×5-Minute Race Pace Efforts

Session Overview

This race week sharpening session keeps your legs fast and responsive without adding training fatigue. Short and purposeful, it preserves power and reminds your muscles what race pace feels like — leaving you fresh, sharp and ready for the start line without the cost of a hard training session.

What You’ll Need

• Turbo trainer or flat outdoor road
• Bike in race setup (use your race wheels if possible)
• Heart rate monitor or power meter
• Water bottle

Warm-Up (15 minutes)

Begin with 10 minutes easy spinning at Zone 2 (RPE 3-4), cadence above 90rpm. Then add 3×20-second high cadence bursts (110rpm+) with 40 seconds easy between each. Finish with 2 minutes at race pace to prime the legs.

Main Set

Four short race pace blocks. Race pace means the effort you plan to hold on the bike leg of your triathlon — around 80-85% of FTP or RPE 7-8. Maintain cadence at 90-95rpm throughout:

• 5 minutes at race pace (RPE 7-8) — smooth power, find your rhythm
• 3 minutes easy Zone 2 recovery
• 5 minutes at race pace — maintain cadence and aero position
• 3 minutes easy Zone 2 recovery
• 5 minutes at race pace — try to finish stronger than you started
• 3 minutes easy Zone 2 recovery
• 5 minutes at race pace — final effort, controlled and confident

Cool-Down (10 minutes)

Ten minutes easy at Zone 1 (RPE 2-3), very low resistance, cadence above 90rpm. This flushes the legs without tiring them. Do not skip the cool-down — recovery is the entire point of a race week session.

Coaching Notes

• Do this session 2-3 days before your race, not the day before
• Do not be tempted to push harder — the purpose is sharpness, not suffering
• Easier: reduce to 3×5 minutes with 4 minutes recovery between each
• Harder: add one extra rep, but keep intensity strictly at race pace, not above
• If using power: target 80-85% of FTP for each effort block