How To Pace A Time Trial

Pacing a Time Trial (TT) can be a difficult task and there are many questions to ask to enable us to get it right.

• How fast do I go at the start?
• Should I start slow or fast?
• Do I save some for the final?
• How do I pace over hills or with the wind?

In this post we will go through a strategy you can use to ride your best TT. It is broken down into a heart rate strategy and a power strategy. As you get more experienced you can use both which will give you a better picture of how your body is responding to the effort.

Heart Rate Pacing Strategy 

1. Make sure you have a good warm up (future post to come on warm up strategies) and aim to finish (or keep moving at L1-2) as close as practical to the start eg 5mins. Keep legs ticking over at the start if you can too.
2. Get up to speed quickly eg. 70-80% sprint to 40-45km/h (same at the half way turn),
3. It will take a minute or two for HR to catch up (quicker if you finish your warm up close to the start), so be conservative at the start (maybe sit on your goal average TT pace (wind dependent) till HR is 5-10bpm above FTP or lactate threshold (this will vary between race lengths and individuals and will need to be established in training).
4. Target HR will probably be around FTP +10bpm (lower to start with and higher in the second half).
5. You can go a little harder into the wind or uphill too (e.g. 5bpm) and a little easier with the wind and downhill.

Quarters: Often if you break up the TT into quarters, it helps you have a goal for each bit (write it on masking tape and put it on your handle bars) e.g.:

1. Up to speed and HR FTP +5bpm
2. Push to FTP +7bpm
3. Up to speed after turn and FTP +10bpm
4. Use up the last of your reserves to be done on the line eg FTP +12bpm or more (be even though – you don’t want to blow up!)

NOTE: For any segment up the HR by say 3-5bpm uphill or into the wind and down 3-5bpm for the opposite. 

Power Pacing Strategy

1. Get up to speed quickly eg. wind up at about 60% of your sprint power (5-700w) for 10-15s to get you up to your goal average speed (repeat this at the turn),
2. Once up to speed, settle into target wattage for the first quarter (a little below target wattage for the whole TT e.g. 10w or so)
3. You can go a little harder into the wind or uphill too (e.g. 5%) and a little easier with the wind and downhill. This is because you will make up more time uphill and into the wind and lose less with the wind or downhill.

Quarters: It is good to break up the TT into quarters as it helps you have a goal for each segment (write it on masking tape and put it on your handle bars).

The below example is for a rider who can average about 355-360w for the amount of time it will take to do the TT e.g.:

1. Up to speed and 350w
2. Push to 355w
3. Up to speed after turn and 360w
4. Use up the last of your reserves to be done on the line eg say 370w (be even though – you don’t want to blow up!)

 NOTE: For any segment up the watts by 15-20w uphill or into the wind and down 15-20w for the opposite.

Analysis For TT Improvement

Compare HR and power once you download the TT file. You may find those wattages too hard or too easy as a lot of things can vary when you get into the TT position. You want to find the maximum wattage you can do for a TT with the above type of plan. In training you could try a 20min max effort to gauge your 20min power in TT position and use this to guide you further.

Remember, reflecting on what went well and what can be improved is key to getting better in any race!