Cyclocross is an especially challenging discipline, so the Cyclocross specialty plan is designed to optimize wide-ranging fitness for the unpredictable demands of race day. From high-end sustainable power, to repeated surges with little recovery, to everything in between, this plan is the key to elevating your cyclocross success.The low-volume version of this 8-week plan includes three 60- to 90-minute bike workouts per week, with running and skills work left up to you. An easier 4th week offers the chance for some mid-plan recovery, and the last 2 weeks of the plan serve as a taper, reducing volume but maintaining intensity in the final leadup to your goal event.

Cyclocross - Low Volume

Beginning with your final scheduled FTP assessment, you'll first measure improvement garnered during your preceding Build plan in order to reestablish your&nbsp;power levels. With cyclocross being what it is, your Build plan may have been the Short Power, Sustained Power,&nbsp;or the General Build training plan - such&nbsp;as the variability in the demands of 'cross racing is.
Post-assessment, you'll face what promises to be the first of many workouts aimed at peaking your ability to operate at a high level of your aerobic capacity. VO2max work is extremely&nbsp;beneficial, both in terms of its training adaptations as well as its similarity to the type of efforts required when racing on highly to mildly technical 'cross courses.
This week closes with the first of your weekly race-simulation workouts. Composed of&nbsp;reduced-amplitude Billats, these little honeys&nbsp;will find you going full-gas or&nbsp;attempting to recover at a level of effort well above typical recovery power output. But again, such is the nature of cyclocross racing.

Week 1

This week sees the introduction of work dedicated solely to lifting your anaerobic power capabilities. This form of finishing work addresses your short-power capabilities by demanding possibly your highest indoor power outputs but only for short to very short durations. See these for what they are: short but painful bursts of power that cultivate raw strength and lift your overall work capacity.
Then you'll grow your VO2max interval duration by a slim but meaningful duration over last week's repeats. The goal here isn't to generate more watts but to hold the same high power numbers for slightly longer durations thereby lifting your capabilities to lay down and sustain high power output.
You'll close out this week of specialized conditioning with a different and mildly lighter round of race-simulating, high-power-recovery VO2max repeats. Use this as an opportunity to further familiarize yourself with the incessantly punishing nature of racing on the widest ranging terrain imaginable.

Week 2

This week's first round of intervals focuses again on honing your ability to put down extremely high watts for very limited (but often pivotal) lengths of time. Whether you&nbsp;create big power with a fast spin, a big gear, or very likely a bit of each, this capability doesn't appear magically for most of us; it takes a few weeks of work dedicated to cultivating a very specific and useful form of fitness.
Prior to your first and only recovery week, your VO2max durations hit their peak. While you may have done longer repeats in other training phases, it's likely that your peak-aerobic-uptake power has never been higher than it is right now. So yes, you'll again grow the ever-important duration, but you'll do it at your highest level of work&nbsp;quality to date.
Then, one last time, you'll face several varied-length bouts of race-specific repeats. This time,&nbsp;the recovery between each muscular assault has been minimized and will move&nbsp;you closer to the demands of mass-start racing on courses that funnel riders into fitness-contingent positioning. Put another way, only the strongest rise to the front of the field.

Week 3

Many low-volume athletes find they don't need an entire week of recovery-intensity riding in order to continue lifting their fitness. Some, however, need every single day of it. Base your&nbsp;recovery approach on earlier phases of training and how you felt during the latter half of your recovery weeks as well as how you felt directly following them.In this plan's only week of dedicated downtime, consider a couple options. First off, you can follow the recovery protocol just as it's laid out if you've reached this fourth week in evident need of some R&amp;R. Alternatively, you can adhere to just one or two of the three scheduled recovery workouts and then plan a harder, full-intensity workout on the weekend. Ideally, you'd compete in a cyclocross or even XC mountain bike race, but a repeat of any of the preceding weeks' Saturday workouts will suffice.Finally, as you begin to feel rested and reasonably fresh, consider heading outdoors for one of these easier recovery rides. Ideally, find a grassy field where you can address your most lacking cyclocross skills.

Week 4

Following a bit of deloading that ideally finds you returning with a revitalized body and some renewed training motivation, it’s time to get even more specific with your final few weeks of training. This begins by coupling two previous workout types into a single format by adding an anaerobic burst of power to the beginning of your race-simulating VO2max repeats.Then, what were once straightforward aerobic capacity repeats morph into ostensibly anaerobic repeats. These short, intense intervals are so closely stacked that each subsequent repeat within a set grows increasingly aerobic in nature, making high demands on both major metabolic systems and reaping multiple training benefits. High power? Check. Repeatability? Check. Higher performance capabilities? Check.Finally, your new end-of-week interval format couples high-power starts with a returned focus on fortifying your muscular endurance as you lead into your most important events. Practice pushing hard and then settling&nbsp;into a pace that will drop most fools who try to follow your moves, all while you strengthen your ability to hold high percentages of your FTP for increasing durations.

Week 5

This week begins with a near repeat of last week's race interval combo, but with a slight increase in the intensity of your opening hard start. Do your best to follow this high-force push with a smoother set of VO2max repeats. Even though it's virtually the same workout as last week, you don't have to ride it&nbsp;the same way. Try to minimize any wasteful movement on the bike, any unnecessary muscle tension through your body, and any lack of control as each set progresses and your fatigue mounts.
In what might at first appear to be another repeat workout, this week's anaerobic-to-aerobic power repeats trim the recovery between intervals only slightly. While this is a&nbsp;seemingly minor change, the impact that it&nbsp;can have on a workout, a&nbsp;race, and&nbsp;(equally&nbsp;as important) your fitness can be nothing short of tremendous, especially as the repeats stack up.
Finally, your end-of-week combination workout kicks off with a familiar burst of power, only to grow your sustainable work duration afterward. The overall stress of the workout barely changes, but the demands of each interval rise substantially as your muscles are challenged with an additional chunk of unrelenting, sustained power output.

Week 6

Only a few subtle changes await you as you face one final week of loading rather than beginning a two-week race taper. When it comes to low-volume training, a two-week taper is often more than is necessary to bring out peak race-day fitness, so why not make the most of this final fitness-enhancing opportunity?&nbsp;Accordingly, you'll see a very similar stress load to last week, with the addition of a couple shifts in each workout's race-specificity. This begins&nbsp;with another repeat of your Tuesday workout combination, but with one final bump in sprint intensity.Then, your anaerobic/aerobic power repeats will get even cozier with one another; the intra-interval recoveries will&nbsp;shrink even more, making these efforts a little more aerobic a bit earlier in each set.

Week 7

During this final and&nbsp;repeatable (if necessary)&nbsp;peak-fitness week, the training load drops to its lowest, maintenance-only point in the interest of leaving you eager, rested, and excited to exploit your elevated fitness and high levels of performance confidence.This week’s format can be repeated should you have a string of race weekends ahead since it maintains all of the necessary intensity but not nearly as much of the fatigue-inducing volume. You can also substitute a race simulation such as&nbsp;Blue, Barren, or Blood (or any of their variants) at the end of the week if it lacks a scheduled race.The Saturday openers workout is meant to directly precede a Sunday race. If you're racing on Saturday, or perhaps both weekend days, move this workout to Friday or bypass it entirely if you perform well without a round of openers in your legs.Finally, if you couple this final-week format with a weekly race or two, it's possible to maintain peak fitness for multiple weeks. Now, go out there and reap the rewards of months of hard, consistent training the likes of which only the most dedicated and hardworking riders achieve.

Week 8

No cycling discipline can match cyclocross for the diverse range of fitness and skills it requires—not to mention the over-the-top fun of racing and spectating at these events. So whether your goal is the top step of the podium, or simply to have more fun on the way to a beer handup, the Cyclocross specialty plan is your best choice. Running and skills work are left to you, but these plans are excellent at developing the endurance and punchy cycling fitness you need for cyclocross success.

Cyclocross

Cyclocross is an especially challenging discipline, so the Cyclocross specialty plan is designed to optimize wide-ranging fitness for the unpredictable demands of race day. From high-end sustainable power, to repeated surges with little recovery, to everything in between, this plan is the key to elevating your cyclocross success.The mid-volume version of this 8-week plan includes five 60- to 120-minute bike workouts per week, with running and skills work left up to you. An easier 4th week offers the chance for some mid-plan recovery, and the last 2 weeks of the plan serve as a taper, reducing volume but maintaining intensity in the final leadup to your goal event.

Cyclocross - Mid Volume

Cyclocross is an especially challenging discipline, so the Cyclocross specialty plan is designed to optimize wide-ranging fitness for the unpredictable demands of race day. From high-end sustainable power, to repeated surges with little recovery, to everything in between, this plan is the key to elevating your cyclocross success.The high-volume version of this 8-week plan includes six 60- to 150-minute bike workouts per week, with running and skills work left up to you. An easier 4th week offers the chance for some mid-plan recovery, and the last 2 weeks of the plan serve as a taper, reducing volume but maintaining intensity in the final leadup to your goal event.As with all our high-volume plans, this plan is intended for experienced athletes who have plateaued at lower volumes.

Cyclocross

Cyclocross (8 Weeks Per Block)

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Cyclocross

Cyclocross (8 Weeks Per Block)

Training Plans for Your Needs

Focused Training for Your Event

More Plans for Off-Road Racers

Ready to Get Faster?

Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

Training and Racing Videos

TrainerRoad Community Forum