The riders who trained easier got faster

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There is a belief in cycling that sits so deep most riders never question it. More intensity equals more improvement. Harder intervals, higher heart rates, more suffering. That is how you get faster.

It is a reasonable assumption. It is also wrong. Or at least, incomplete.

A study published in the European Journal of Sport Science by Rønnestad and colleagues put this to the test. They took 22 well-trained cyclists (VO2max averaging 69.5 ml/kg/min, so these are not beginners) and had each rider complete two different one-week training blocks, separated by two months:

Block 1 — Moderate-intensity intervals (MIT): Six sessions over seven days. Each session included 5 to 7 work intervals lasting 10 to 14 minutes. Average RPE was 14.5. Hard, but controlled. You could hold a conversation in the recovery, and you would not be dreading the next rep.

Block 2 — High-intensity intervals (HIT): Five sessions over six days. Each session included 5 x 8.75-minute efforts built from multiple short intervals. Average RPE was 17.1. Genuinely hard. The kind of sessions most riders think of when they hear “block training.”

After each block, the riders took six days of active recovery, then tested their 15-minute maximum power, sprint power, and power at 4 mmol/L blood lactate.

The results challenge everything most cyclists assume about training blocks.

Here are three things worth knowing:

1. The moderate block improved 15-minute power more than the hard block. The MIT block lifted 15-minute max power by 4.9%. The HIT block? 2.8%. That is not a typo. The easier block produced a bigger improvement. The difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.44), meaning both blocks “worked.” But the moderate block certainly did not lose.

2. The moderate block did this with less perceived suffering. RPE 14.5 versus 17.1 is a real difference. The moderate block was work, not punishment. For riders who are balancing training with jobs, families, and the general wear of being over 40, that matters. You can absorb a moderate block and still function. A high-intensity block at RPE 17 for five days has a cost.

3. Both blocks improved power at lactate threshold. Power at 4 mmol/L improved in both conditions. This means the moderate block was not just “easier cardio.” It was driving genuine physiological adaptation at threshold, the intensity that matters most in road racing and hard group rides.

What to do with this

If you race or do hard group rides: Consider using moderate-intensity blocks (think sustained tempo to low-threshold efforts, 10 to 14 minutes, RPE around 14 to 15) as a primary training stimulus, not just a fallback when you are too tired for VO2max work. These are not junk miles. They are a legitimate performance driver, especially when concentrated into a focused block.

If you train big hours: You have the time to run longer work intervals at moderate intensity without compressing recovery. A week of 5 to 6 sessions with 60 to 80 minutes of accumulated work at sweet spot to low threshold, followed by an easy week, could give you the same or better adaptation as a brutal HIT block. And you will recover faster from it.

If you are time-capped: This is arguably where moderate blocks shine brightest. You can fit a 75-minute session with 3 x 12 minutes at moderate intensity into a weekday without destroying yourself for the next day. Stack five of those in a week, take an easy week, and you have a genuine training stimulus that does not require heroics.

Bottom line: Suffering more is not the same as improving more. If you have been avoiding block training because you think it has to feel like a war, this study says otherwise.

Reference: Rønnestad, B.R., et al. (2025). Block training with moderate- or high-intensity intervals both improve endurance performance in well-trained cyclists. European Journal of Sport Science, 25(7), e70067.

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On my mindFind the moment

Had a great conversation with an athlete this week about their upcoming stage race. We were mapping out the event, stage by stage, and one thing became obvious pretty quickly.

The race will be decided on stage four. Last day, about 80 km in, big climb. That is the moment. Not stage one. Not the prologue. Not the opening flat stage where everyone is fresh and the bunch is together. Stage four. Deep into the race. Tired legs. Accumulated fatigue from three days of racing.

Once you see that clearly, something shifts in how you prepare.

Because if stage four is the moment, then everything else has to serve it. Recovery between stages is not optional, it is strategy. Fueling on stages one through three is not about feeling good in the moment, it is about arriving at the bottom of that climb on day four with something left. Tactics on the earlier stages are not about showing strength. They are about conserving it.

I used this analogy with the athlete: it is a bit like deciding you want to do ten pull-ups. That single goal forces a whole chain of decisions. You need to drop some weight. You need specific exercises. You need to plan your week around it. The goal is one thing, but achieving it requires ten smaller things to fall into line.

Training for a stage race works the same way. The goal is not to be fit. The goal is to be fit enough, recovered enough, and smart enough to perform at one specific point in the race. Everything else is a stepping stone.

I think this applies well beyond stage racing, too. Within a single road race, there is usually one moment that decides the result. A climb. A crosswind section. The final 2 km. If you can identify that moment in advance, suddenly every decision in the race has a direction.

Same with a training week. If you know your key session is Thursday's threshold work, then Monday's recovery ride, Tuesday's sleep, and Wednesday's fueling all have a purpose bigger than themselves. They are not just boxes to tick. They are serving the thing that actually matters.

Most riders train without that clarity. Every session feels equally important, so none of them are. There is no hierarchy. No anchor point. Just a list of workouts.

Find the moment. Then work backwards from it. That is where good preparation starts.

Damian