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    Why these workouts? Torque, high cadence, hard starts, 30/15s and openers

    Your plan mixes classic endurance and interval work with a few special session types. Here's what each one is for.

    Torque / low-cadence work (65RPM)

    Intervals ridden at normal power but low cadence — 'strength on the bike'. High muscular force per pedal stroke builds strength-endurance for climbing and grinding sections. Ride them seated, controlled, in a heavy gear; if you're on a smart trainer, turn ERG mode off so you control the force with gears (why).

    High-cadence work (105RPM)

    The opposite stimulus: normal power, fast legs. Trains neuromuscular smoothness and leg speed, making your everyday cadence feel effortless. Keep the upper body quiet; if you bounce in the saddle, ease the cadence back a notch.

    Hard-start intervals

    Intervals that begin with a short burst well above the target, then settle into it. The burst drains your anaerobic reserve (W') so your aerobic system faces the rest of the interval at full stretch — more time at high oxygen uptake for the same interval length. They hurt precisely as designed.

    30/15s (and similar micro-intervals)

    Repeats of ~30 seconds hard / 15 seconds easy. The recoveries are too short to actually recover, so oxygen uptake stays pinned near max while the short efforts keep the legs from flooding — an efficient, mentally chunked way to accumulate VO2max time.

    Over-unders

    Blocks alternating just below and just above threshold (e.g. 95% / 105% FTP). Teaches your body to clear lactate *while still riding hard* — the exact demand of surges on climbs and in races.

    Openers

    The short, sharp session the day before a race: a few brief efforts to wake the system up without any fatigue cost. Legs feel noticeably better on race morning.

    Curious why a specific session sits on a specific day? Ask your coach — every workout has a reason, and it will happily explain it.