Olympic Distance Race Pace Turbo: 60-Minute Threshold Effort

Session Overview

This 60-minute turbo trainer session builds the sustained power output you need to ride the 40km bike leg of an Olympic triathlon at race pace. Using a combination of race-effort blocks and short recovery intervals, it conditions your legs to produce consistent watts across the full distance.

What You’ll Need

• Turbo trainer or smart trainer
• Heart rate monitor or power meter (recommended)
• Fan for cooling
• Water bottle — you’ll need it

Warm-Up (10 minutes)

10 minutes easy spinning at 85–90 rpm, Zone 1–2 effort. At minutes 7–8, add 3 x 10-second accelerations to 100+ rpm to activate your neuromuscular system. Finish with 2 minutes back at easy effort before the main set.

Main Set

Target power: 90–95% FTP (or RPE 7.5–8/10 if no power meter). Cadence: 88–95 rpm throughout.

• 2 x 12 minutes at Olympic race pace (90–95% FTP), 3 min easy between
• 4 x 3 minutes at 100–105% FTP, 90 seconds easy between
• 1 x 5 minutes at 95% FTP to finish

The two long blocks simulate the sustained effort of the Olympic bike leg. The short hard efforts raise your ceiling above race pace so race pace feels easier. The closing 5-minute block builds mental and physical durability when tired.

Cool-Down (5 minutes)

Easy spinning at very low resistance and 90+ rpm. This flushes lactate and begins recovery. Avoid stopping suddenly after a hard effort.

Coaching Notes

• If you don’t have a power meter, use perceived effort: the 12-minute blocks should feel hard but sustainable — you could speak a sentence but wouldn’t want to.
• Keep cadence above 88 rpm throughout the main set. Grinding at low cadence will leave your legs heavy for the run.
• This session is best done 2–3 days before a long run, not the day before.
• To make it harder: increase the 12-minute blocks to 15 minutes each. To make it easier: reduce to 2 x 8 minutes.