Performance diagnostics for road cyclists: Do-it-yourself performance test

Professional performance diagnostics in the laboratory or on the road are considered the gold standard when it comes to determining your own performance level and organising your training in the best possible way. However, our major test in TOUR issue 2/2020 showed just how great the fluctuations in measurement results are under laboratory conditions. Added to this are costs of well over 200 euros in some cases - a sum that only a few road cyclists can invest several times a year to check their performance development.

Free performance test for road cyclists

The free alternative: self-conducted performance tests, interpreted with the help of free or monthly bookable training software. But here too there are differences. Nowadays, every virtual platform has one or more FTP tests on offer, but the evaluation remains correspondingly template-like, performance ranges are calculated as a percentage of the FTP value determined, and the rider's personal strengths and weaknesses are not taken into account.

<< Find out more about virtual training software such as Zwift, RGT and Bkool in our indoor special >>

Do your own bike performance test: The advantages

The good news for all those who cannot spend several hundred euros a year but still want to optimise their training: Self-conducted performance diagnostics can help to tailor training to the appropriate rider profile, i.e. the physiological characteristics and abilities of a rider - if you carry out the test in a planned and conscientious manner. We have created an online tool for all road cyclists, with which you can quickly and easily determine your individual strengths and weaknesses.

Do the performance test yourself: The test procedure

Your maximum performance in four different time periods is the basis for determining your individual rider profile. If you measure your maximum values over five seconds, one minute, five minutes and one hour (= Value of the functional threshold power), you can use these values directly for the calculation. If you do not yet know your values or cannot generate them from recorded power data, then you will have to struggle through the following test protocol, which lasts a good hour and a half:

• 30min warm-up, after two thirds one or two short, crisp starts
• 8 sec sprint (shift into high gear beforehand): the best 5 sec count!
• 10min easy rolling
• 1min full throttle
• 10min easy rolling
• 5min full throttle
• 10min easy rolling
• 20min full throttle
• 15min Cool Down

If necessary, you can also complete the test on two different days. It is important that you complete the test protocol at a later review of your performance development in exactly the same way as the first time - only then will you receive valid results!

Your individual driver profile: how to train better

For example, if you have strong neuromuscular power, as evidenced by a comparatively high value in the 5-second sprint test, then it may make sense to adjust the intensity of your sprint intervals upwards in order to provide sufficient stimulus. The same applies to your anaerobic capacity (1-minute test), your maximum oxygen uptake (5-minute test) and your functional threshold power FTP: Here too, depending on the test result, it is important to adjust the corresponding training loads upwards or downwards in order to achieve targeted, customised load management.