How To Fine Tune Your Training When A Target Event Is On The Calendar
Many cyclists have a big ride circled on their calendar and their planning towards it training numbers look great. FTP has ticked up. Weekend rides feel strong. Interval efforts are hitting target.
Then the event comes around and three or four hours in… the “wheels come off”… and the last third becomes a survival to the end.
This happens all too often. But it doesn't have to be this way!
Fresh Fitness Isn't The Same As Event Fitness
Most training is done fresh. Most events exhaust your freshness quickly and before you need it.
You do your FTP test rested. Your intervals rested. Your key sessions rested. The numbers get generated in one state… but an event requires you to produce these in a completely different state… that being fatigued.
There's a name for the gap between the two. Researchers call it durability – the ability to hold power output as fatigue accumulates through a ride. This is different to fresh fitness but can be trained and improved [1].
The gap between performance when you’re fresh and when you’re fatigued is the difference in event day planning, training and performance.
What Your Event Actually Needs
Your target event isn't about your rested numbers, its rather about something quite different:
Depending on the event, you will need to ask yourself:
Can you still hold power three or four hours into the ride?
Can you handle a hard climb late, when everyone, and possibly you included, are fading?
Do your legs still respond when the group surges in the final stretch?
Can you keep your fuel and hydration up while all of the above is happening?
None of this is an issue in a single 20-minute effort when you are fresh. This is your ‘power when fresh’. It only becomes your problem when you're tired. And it's only trained by putting yourself in that state deliberately [3].
Your ‘power when fresh’ is maintained reasonably well, with training, right into your 50s and 60s even with your VO2max declining (around 1% a year)… but what does drop away much quicker is your fatigue resistance [2]. This is where long rides start to hurt more and the second half of any long ride or event feels much harder than you expect it to or than it used to in earlier (your younger) years.
When this happens, its a sign that your durability is declining before your peak power… and its why training numbers look good in training but events don't feel like it.
The Trap
The trap is to think that training your fresh, when rested numbers and metrics is the same thing as training for an event.
It happens because fresh work is easier to measure, easier to schedule and easier to feel good about. You see a higher FTP or a higher 5-minute power output… which means all looks good, right?
And it certainly helps…. But if none of this quality training is also incorporated into ‘event states’, then you are missing out on really preparing for the moment in the event that you will need it.
The Fix
It comes down to training when you’re tired to build the fitness you actually need in your event [3] as well as supporting this with your aerobic base and your overall training load.
Turning up to a target event on the back of a well-structured week is a solid start. But there's a specific kind of fitness that events demand of you (especially bigger events) and this can only be built with a specific focus on it.
Cyclists who finish their events stronger than they started aren't necessarily the ones with the highest FTP. They're the ones who understand, plan for and train the difference between just training and matching training to event demands.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is durability different from just being fit?
Fresh fitness is what you can produce rested. Durability is what you can still produce when tired. They're different qualities and respond to different training.
How do I know if durability is what's holding me back?
Compare a fresh 20-minute effort to what you can hold for 20min after three or four hours into a long ride. If the drop is significant, durability is the problem.
Do I need to ride for 5 hours to build durability?
Long rides help. But quality efforts during a long ride help more.The fatigued state and managing that is what matters.
Should I stop caring about my FTP?
No. Fresh fitness still matters and a higher threshold is a good thing. Just don't confuse it with event readiness. They're related but not the same.
References
Barsumyan, A., Soost, C., & Burchard, R. (2025). Enhanced durability predicts success in amateur road cycling: evidence of power output declines. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 7, 1530162.https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2025.1530162
Tanaka, H., & Seals, D. R. (2008). Endurance exercise performance in Masters athletes: age-associated changes and underlying physiological mechanisms. The Journal of Physiology, 586(1), 55–63.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17717011/
Matomäki, P., Heinonen, O. J., Nummela, A., Laukkanen, J., Auvinen, E. P., Pirkola, L., & Kyröläinen, H. (2023). Durability is improved by both low and high intensity endurance training. Frontiers in Physiology, 14, 1128111.https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1128111