VO2 Max
57 min
High intensity
The classic VO2 max session in under an hour: a progressive ramp, then four three-minute efforts at 105-120% of CP with three minutes between, to lift the ceiling that decides attacks and climbs.
Matteo Cigala
Coach, Cigala Cycling
VO2 Max
57 min
High
9 / 10
Advanced
Indoors
The session
The workout
Written as a share of critical power, so it fits every rider. In Vekta it becomes your watts, with the W′ cost shown before you ride.
Matteo Cigala
Why this workout
The breakdown
Inside the workout
VO2 intervals improve the body's ability to deliver and use oxygen at high intensity, which is the physiology behind stronger attacks and faster climbs. Matteo Cigala's version is the compact classic: four three-minute efforts at 105–120% of CP, with three minutes between, in under an hour.
The progression before the main set is the part most riders skip and should not: three minutes at 70%, three at 80% and two at 95% of CP walk the system up through the zones so the first VO2 effort starts from an elevated state rather than from cold. Ten minutes of recovery then clear the ramp before the work begins. Cadence is prescribed for the warm-up and recoveries at 100–110 rpm, and left free for the efforts.
In Vekta the four efforts are written at 105–120% of the rider's own CP, and the analysis afterwards names each one and reports the time spent above 90% of VO2 max, which is the number the session is really about.
The entry point to VO2 work and a good indoor session: two a week in a block of three or four weeks, then ease off.
VO2 Max
Stimulus
Advanced
Workout level
Indoors
Best ridden
Road,
Indoor and e-racing,
DISCIPLINE
The stimulus
VO2 Max, explained
Short, hard repeats that push oxygen uptake to its ceiling and raise it.
What it is
Efforts of roughly one to five minutes above critical power, usually between 105 and 130% of CP, with recoveries short enough that the next effort starts before the body has settled. Formats vary from classic 4×4 and 4×3 to 30/15s and 40/20s, where the "rest" is a tempo effort that keeps oxygen uptake high.
Why it matters
VO2 max is the size of the aerobic engine. Everything below it, threshold, tempo, endurance, is a fraction of it, so a higher ceiling lifts every other zone. It is also the quality that decays fastest without stimulus, which is why the sessions are short, frequent in blocks, and brutally specific.
These are the sessions that change what you can hold for three minutes on a climb or after an attack. Expect to see them in blocks of two a week for three to four weeks, then a rest. They cost more W′ than anything else in the library and should be ridden fresh.
The variable that matters is time above 90% of VO2 max, not the number of reps. Short-interval formats accumulate it with less perceived strain; long formats train the ability to hold it. Watch W′ balance in the preview: a session that drains it in the first set has the wrong recovery.
Add the session to your Vekta calendar and the targets convert from % of CP into your watts. The preview shows where W′ will run low before you ride; the analysis afterwards classifies every interval and tells you how much of the session was actually spent above 90%.
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