How do I get faster at cycling?

Do you see yourself as a Bradley Wiggins endurance cyclist or maybe more the Mark Cavendish sprinter type? Want to improve your performance and speed but not sure how? Becoming a fitter, faster, more efficient cyclist is definitely possible. There’s no limit to what you can achieve provided you want it badly enough and obviously, the more you put in, the more you get out!
Before you start though, take advice from Sir Chris Hoy; “You’ve got to have a clear goal, the more specific the better, to work towards.” Be it competing in a triathlon, cycling from Land’s End to John O’ Groats or speeding up your commute to work, having a goal will help to keep you focused and stay on task.

But how can you achieve these goals? Here are a few helpful tips:

1. Building overall strength and fitness will improve your power and pace on your bike. This can be achieved with full body strength training working on multiple muscle groups and is important for sprinters and endurance cyclists alike. You can significantly increase your strength without adding too much muscle and this can be achieved using heavier weights, low repetitions and longer rests. Ultimately, you are teaching your body to better use the muscle it already has, rather than bulking up with new muscle. In a study of elite cyclists from the U-23 Danish National Team, strength training plus cycling improved performance during a 45 minute time trial to a greater extent than cycling alone.1 A further study showed that strength training increased time to exhaustion at maximal aerobic power by almost 20% as well as improving cycling economy by 5%.2 Strengthening work should be structured, so it’s worth seeking help from a S & C specialist who can develop a resistance training programme to supplement and maximise your cycling schedule.
2. Increasing your lactate threshold (LT) has been associated with an increase in performance. But yes, what is LT? Lactate is produced by your body in response to aerobic exercise and is a fuel for the muscles, delays fatigue and is a mechanism that prevents your body from injury. LT is reached when lactate production can’t keep up with the levels needed to prevent muscle failure. Don’t worry if it’s still not clear! Basically, above the LT the muscle’s ability to contract is hindered so the cyclist is forced to slow down or stop. Bottom line, the higher the LT, the longer a cyclist can sustain power without fatiguing and it can be raised gradually by increasing training, tempo runs and interval training.
3. Working on your technique to improve your cadence (number of pedal revolutions per minute) will help to improve your power and pace. The smoother your pedalling motion, the faster your cadence will be. Practicing short sprints with a high cadence allows you to maintain a faster speed with less muscular fatigue and develops a more rapid and efficient pedal stroke. Ultimately, using your cardiovascular system more intensely enables you to recover more quickly and pedal at full power for longer.
4. Use interval training to increase your average speed. This is done by cycling at speeds above your usual average pace for short intervals and then slowing down to recover.
5. Wind resistance is one of the main reasons for slowing you down on your bike. The easiest way to reduce this is to bend closer to the handlebars and tuck your elbows in.
6. Better technique will allow you to cycle faster and increase your average speed and by using a simple bike computer you can see your max, current and average speed. Cornering is an area where you could unnecessarily lose speed. Remember it’s the speed that you can carry through the bend that’s most important. Efficient breaking is another skill that can be mastered. Being able to hold your speed when pedalling into a descent will allow you to roll up the other side with minimum effort.
7. Learn to love hills! Hills force you to work harder and even though your lungs burn and your legs ache, it boosts your cardiovascular fitness so you can get faster.
8. Riding with others is not only fun and sociable but will encourage you to raise your level in order to keep up with the fastest in the group.
9. Eat well, hydrate well and always have a spare energy drink for emergencies.

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1. Aagaard P, Andersen JL, Bennekou M, Larsson B, Olesen JL, Crameri R, Magnusson SP, Kjaer M. (2011). Effects of resistance training on endurance capacity and muscle fiber composition in young top-level cyclists. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 21, e298-307
2. Sunde A, Støren O, Bjerkaas M, Larsen MH, Hoff J, Helgerud J. (2010). Maximal strength training improves cycling economy in competitive cyclists. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 24, 2157-2165