Training plan for sub-60 Alpe

I have a goal – I want to complete Alpe de Zwift in under 60 minutes. My PB is 65 minutes but that was a couple of years ago when I was probably a little fitter.

Where can I get a training plan to help me achieve this? To be clear I want a training plan to make me fit enough and not a timing plan on how quickly to do each sector.

Will Xert do this (they have just announced an agreement with Zwift)?

I currently use Intervals to track fitness – are plans available on there?

Or am I overthinking it and do I just need to follow a training plan on Zwift or the Wattbike hub to increase my power?

If you have Zwift already, jsut do a build me up training plan?

And lose weight..helps on the alpe!

DrP

Have you done it? What improvement did you see?

Plenty of sub-threshold/sweetspot efforts since these are the zones you’re likely to be riding in, looking to increase Time to Exhaustion so progressively increase duration or intensity each time or even reduce recovery between work intervals.

Don’t know what base you’re starting from but maybe try something like 4 x 8 mins at 90%, then 4 x 10 mins etc.

Introduce bursts to simulate some of the surges you’ll sometimes do.

e2a: IANAC

I did a 57min with about 235w average at 67kg. Kept at a steady power number as much as I could. FTP was probably about 250 at the time. So what Haze recommends makes sense.

I did just under 57mins up ADZ after extending a TT Tune-Up workout in Feb ’20 … Those were the days, I was ~75Kg instead of ~96Kg and far stronger on the bike.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3131619705

https://whatsonzwift.com/workouts/tt-tuneup

Started workplan in Jan ’20, got me into my best shape since cycling for fitness from ’17 onwards, came close in early-mid ’22 but ~83Kg before long covid. Just discovered I did the climb a bit quicker as a steady race effort in May ’22 https://www.strava.com/activities/7071388585

48:31 back in the Covid days, had been working at home a lot so possibly had more training time available…262w and 4.07 wkg for just over 64Kg, tad lighter than my currernt weight but I’m a few watts off that these days.

Effort looks reasonably steady (1.02 VI) considering it being a race which would have pushed me on a bit.

Have you done it? What improvement did you see?

Fittest i’ve been was after doing 9and actually sticking to) the Build me up plan.

When I did my vEveresting I was 68kg, and aimed for 210 watts up the alpe… that was coming in around the 60 min mark.

DrP

Create a workout with a steady wattage, say 210w and go up. Make sure you’ve got the “ghost” PR set up. Then next time you go you’ve got a pacer – aim to beat it each time you go up. Over winter I’ll work on Z2 efforts and do the alpe every few weeks at 1% more than the time before, each time with motivation to just beat the ghost. Did that last winter and got it 53m by January was about 70 at the beginning. Had capability to go sub 60 all along but having a target helps motivation to keep pushing on.

Just checked my most recent ‘effort’…roughly the same HR but carrying an extra half Kg and 20w less cost be 4 and a half minutes….53m

Honestly I’d say just get a good handle on what you can ride at steady state and stick to it…ghost idea above is a good carrot!

Cycle to the Alps and ride up the Alpe?!

Should be enough fitness gained for a 60 minute attempt?

Ride home. Have a go at it on a simulator!

Winky eye emoji!

Let me offer a contrary position 😉 I kept doing it once a week, starting at around 63 mins and finishing 59.54 five weeks later. That was – from memory – 240w ish @ 76kg. I knew I was getting closer as I was getting PBs on each section, but that 6-5 (is that the long one) was especially brutal trying to keep the watts up, as was sprinting for the line (as somehow I’d forgotten than turn 1 is not the end!).

I did it again on an easy group ride the following week in 66 minutes and that felt absolutely fine. Then a few months later, I cracked and tried again. 60.23.

At which point I gave up. See also doing routes like Four Horseman and London Pretzel. Once is enough 🙂

Thanks. I will try the ghost option (maybe not weekly) on top of predominantly zone 2 workouts for the rest of the time.

3.2 W/kg is the magic number (varies a bit with your weight of course, I think my wife needs more like 3.4).

Ride lots of steady state and lose weight!

3.2 W/kg is the magic number (varies a bit with your weight of course, I think my wife needs more like 3.4).

That sounds about right. I have the ‘lift off badge’, couldn’t tell you the time but I was 97kg at 313W ftp at the time. It was a race and initially I was disqualified (cat C). I think it’s my best Zwift race result, mostly because I find it easier to hold power with high resistance.

I did a Zwift training programme, I think FTP booster, but I think just racing frequently improved my speed more than anything.

I’ve ridden down and up IRL but stopped to take pics, would have been nice to compare the times.

Whether theres a graph which can be plotted. Seems weight is the key 😀

My sweet spot (numbers) for a 43min Alpe is 240w, 76rpm, 164bpm @ 55kg weight (52 yr old with max HR of 186)

My weight is 68kg. I’ve always assumed increasing power should be my priority over losing weight, but if I’m honest with myself I’m sure there’s a few kilos to be lost.

Just calculated – if I can maintain 210W (a bit of a challenge currently but doesn’t feel impossible) and drop 2kg then I’ll be at 3.2W/kg

Just had a look at my recent effort a few weeks back and comparing it to others on here, how are people managing sub 50 mins?

Did it in 68minutes, average watts was 260 at 77kg, could have probably tried a bit harder but not that much! Think my front brake might be rubbing

Just looked back at last time I did close to 1h – 3.25w/kg @68kg. Think that’s where you need to be. FYI it’s tour of watopia this week and AdZ is this weeks route. Good time to do it as that many riders is a lot of carrots. I set a PR chasing down one rider at a time – got really hard at top ad there were fewer riders and bigger gaps to cross but that’s where the extra time came from.

I did it in 68 minutes today: 240W average; 85kg. I’m hoping to improve my power and shed some weight over the winter, but I’m not sure how often I could stomach that route.

If you want some easy practice up the Alpe – and also it’s pretty much guaranteed you’ll do it in under an hour with them – then Phoenix Rising do a BANDED go up the Road to Sky most Sundays, and the Sundays they don’t they go up similarly horrible hills.  It’s called the Tronathon, you don’t need to be pedalling hard (cos it’s banded) and can get you familiar with where you can push / take it easy etc when you do your solo attempts.  They go up at 14:15 every Sunday, late join is activated as are coffee breaks if you want them.

Handy (rough) guide to the power you’d need and how long you would have to maintain w/kg for the time you want.

zwiftinsider – alpe-estimates
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<li style=”box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-left: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;”>3 w/kg: 62 minutes
<li style=”box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-left: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;”>3.5 w/kg: 55 minutes
<li style=”box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-left: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;”>4 w/kg: 49 minutes
<li style=”box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-left: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;”>4.5 w/kg: 44 minutes
<li style=”box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-left: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;”>5 w/kg: 40 minutes
<li style=”box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-left: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;”>5.5 w/kg: 37 minutes
<li style=”box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-left: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;”>6 w/kg: 35 minutes
<li style=”box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-left: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px;”>6.5 w/kg: 32 minutes