Test protocol

Important: Your uploaded file forms the basis of your entire report. Test rested, well-fuelled, and motivated to obtain reliable results.

Two protocols, both established and both giving comparable values. Choose the one that fits your experience.

Two maximal efforts with recovery between. The compact protocol to determine Critical Power and W′, for anyone who cannot yet ride two long maximal efforts cleanly in one session.

  1. Warm-up (20–25 min). 15 min easy riding (Z1–Z2). Then 2 × 1 min at ~95 % of your expected 3-minute power with 2 min easy between. Finish with 5 min easy before starting.

  2. Effort 1 (≈3 min). Ride one maximal effort of around 3 minutes. The exact duration matters less than an even maximal effort at the highest power you can sustain.

  3. Recovery (20–30 min). Ride very easily, drink, and prepare for the second effort.

  4. Effort 2 (≈12 min). Then ride one maximal effort of around 12 minutes. Again, the exact duration is secondary: what counts is an effort as even as possible at the highest power you can sustain, right to the end.

  5. Pacing. If you know your FTP, start from 125–135 % of FTP for the 3 minutes and 108–115 % of FTP for the 12 minutes. If you don't, start the 3 minutes hard but controlled: the first minute is almost always manageable. After that, hold what you can and go truly to the limit in the last minute. Multiply the average power of those 3 minutes by 0.7. That gives you a conservative starting value for the 12 minutes, from which you can build.

  6. Route. Ideally, ride both efforts on the same steady stretch of road without interruptions.

  7. Cool-down. Ride easily for at least 15 minutes afterwards.