Training like a record breaker

I was doing plenty of endurance miles, fasted rides to improve fat adaptation, and regular sessions of pilates and yoga, so I was comfortable doing the distance.

However, this year I chose to forgo time trialling, and so I lacked the intensity and punch that could have helped me go a lot faster.

The key is to up the power at which you can comfortably ride in an aerodynamic position, best developed with sessions designed to increase your threshold. I also found it useful to throw in some intense efforts at the end of a long ride of five hours or more, riding the last 20 minutes to an hour as fast as I could in order to get used to pushing hard when I already felt tired.