Specific Training for 1 hour flat criterium races

Jeff Jones

Infamous wrote:

Obviously racing crits is the best training for racing crits, but the OP wanted to know what training to do in the 3 month build up before the crits start.

I would argue that concentrating on his sprinting and recovery from sprinting plus doing faster group rides (if possible) would be the order of the day. Failing that, quadrant analysis.

I'd say work on base, threshold power with some sprints once a week. Then start racing. It'll take a couple of races to uget everything 100% again but unless the first race is the most important, it doesn't matter.

Back in the day when I used to race crits, I wouldn't bother with any specific sprint work (and I'm a crap sprinter) in the months leading up to the season - it was all base work + some tempo. In the first race I'd be a bit sluggish following the surges, but I could always recover and get back on.

I'd race 2-3 times a week and it really didn't take long for my sprint to get as good as it was ever going to get. Wins were scarce (got lots of 2nd and 3rd places), but that was usually because the winner was away on his own

Gav888

As this post was a year ago, had did the OP get on with his training?