A 28 Day TRAINING PLAN To Make 2026 Your STRONGEST YEAR EVER

28-Day Cycling Training Plan

Host Tristan Cardew and coach John Wakefield outline a four-week training block that progresses from low-cadence and metabolic work to threshold and high-intensity intervals. Most weekday rides last 1½–2 hours, including warm-up and cool-down. The plan is intended for riders with some training experience and enough time to complete the sessions.

Week 1: Build the Foundation

• Monday: Easy activation ride with 3–4 short, 15-second sprints.
• Tuesday: 6 × 4 minutes at low cadence (about 45–55 rpm), with recovery between efforts.
• Wednesday: Easy 1½–2-hour fasted ride in Zone 1 or low Zone 2. Keep the effort gentle.
• Thursday: Rest day.
• Friday: 2 × 20-minute metabolic intervals at about 80–85% of threshold power, with an easy recovery between them.
• Weekend: 3½ hours of endurance riding one day and 1½–2 hours of easy recovery riding the other. The days can be swapped, but allow an easy day before the next hard session.

Week 2: Add More Structure

• Monday: Recovery or activation ride, depending on the weekend schedule.
• Tuesday: 4 × 4 minutes of low-cadence work, followed by a 20-minute metabolic interval.
• Wednesday: 1½–2 hours of unstructured, easy riding. Avoid turning it into a hard group ride.
• Thursday: Rest day.
• Friday: 20 minutes of metabolic work, followed by a 10-minute threshold interval.
• Weekend: 3½ hours of endurance riding and one easy fasted ride. If you change the order, refuel properly after the fasted ride.

Week 3: Threshold and Over-Unders

• Monday: Recovery or activation ride.
• Tuesday: 3 × 15 minutes at threshold, with 10 minutes of recovery between intervals. The suggested range is 95–105% of FTP.
• Wednesday: Easy recovery ride.
• Thursday: Rest day.
• Friday: 3 × 10-minute over-under intervals. Alternate steady efforts just below threshold with harder surges above it, then recover between sets.
• Weekend: 4 hours of endurance riding one day and a very easy recovery ride the other.

Week 4: Peak Intensity

• Monday: Recovery or activation ride.
• Tuesday: 5 × 4-minute hard anaerobic intervals, with about 3½ minutes of recovery between efforts. Fatigue may affect heart-rate readings, so pay attention to perceived effort as well.
• Wednesday: Very easy recovery spin. Keep the effort low, even on climbs.
• Thursday: Rest day.
• Friday: Eight all-out efforts: four alternating 30-second and 1-minute intervals, with five minutes of recovery between efforts.
• Weekend: One 4-hour endurance ride and either an easy fasted ride or a fueled recovery ride. Choose based on how well recovered you feel.

Guidance for the Block

Use a power meter if available, or track heart rate and perceived exertion (RPE). The coach describes all-out effort as roughly 9–10/10 and easy recovery as about 1–3/10. Keep fasted rides genuinely easy, and stop or reduce the effort if you feel unwell or excessively fatigued.

Fueling is an important part of the plan. The coach recommends roughly 60–80 g of carbohydrate per hour during key sessions and about 60 g per hour on longer endurance rides, along with food before hard sessions and proper refueling afterward.

If time is limited, shorten warm-ups or cool-downs rather than dropping a key interval session. After completing the plan, follow it with a lighter recovery week; for example, reduce a typical 12-hour week to around 8 hours.

Presenters and sources: Tristan Cardew (host); John Wakefield, cycling coach and Science to Sport performance lab lead.