Lactate Clearance
102 min
High intensity
Three five-minute efforts at 95-100% of CP, then ten 30-second efforts at 130% with 15 seconds between, the last one all out. Built to drain W′ under fatigue.
Matteo Cigala
Coach, Cigala Cycling
Lactate Clearance
102 min
High
9 / 10
Advanced
Indoors
INTERVAL BY INTERVAL
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
Matteo Cigala's workout builds time at and near CP first, then drains W′, the work a rider can do above CP, with repeated 30-second efforts.
After a 15-minute warm-up and 15 minutes of steady aerobic riding come three five-minute efforts at 95–100% of CP, with five minutes at 50–60% between them.
Then ten 30-second efforts at 130% of CP with 15 seconds between, the last one all out. Coming after the CP work, they deplete W′ and test how fast the rider recovers between bursts, like the repeated surges of a race. The aim is steady power and cadence, with as little drop-off as possible from the first effort to the last. One hour 42 minutes in total.
In Vekta, every target follows the rider's current CP, derived from real riding and updated daily, and the W′ balance stream on the ride file shows how deep the 30-second set went.
Lactate Clearance
Stimulus
Advanced
Workout level
Indoors
Best ridden
Road,
DISCIPLINE
The stimulus
Lactate Clearance, explained
Surge above threshold, settle just under it, and teach the body to clear the cost.
Over-under and variable-pace intervals that alternate short surges above critical power with longer segments just below it. The "under" is not recovery; it is the working part, where lactate produced in the surge is used as fuel while still riding hard.
Races are not steady. The ability to absorb an attack, a short climb or a crosswind surge and return to a hard pace without blowing is what separates finishing in the group from being dropped. This is the trainable version of that ability.
The surges should feel manageable and the "unders" should feel like the real work. If you are recovering during the under, it is too easy; if you cannot finish the set, the surge is too hard or too long.
These sessions map directly onto race demands and are the best way to expose whether an athlete's W′ recovers under load. The W′ balance trace after the session shows the pattern clearly: it should dip on each surge and partially recover through the under.
The session's surges and unders are written in % of CP and personalised in Vekta. The W′ preview shows whether the athlete can complete the set as written; the post-ride analysis names each surge and the recovery between them.
Common questions
What is an over-under interval?
How far over and under should I go?
Is this a threshold or a VO2 max session?
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