Athlete Key Workout: Patrick Bos
Patrick Bos wins crits. How a rider wins crits is key in what workouts to give them. We have to work out our weaknesses but at the end of the day we win with our strengths. Patrick is a versatile rider but lately we have been seeing success in working his strengths, a hard effort leading into a sprint finish.
This file is from the June Ladera Ranch Crit in California. You can see the last couple laps are filled with jumps and the entire last few minutes is riding at a pretty high level compared to 4 and 5 laps to go. With Patrick we have been working a few different angles to get a similar result. We’ve been moving from V02 and threshold work to real specific race finishing workouts. We want to see him get to the finish, the final sprint, mentally fresh and ready to unleash that killer final blow.
This threshold with finishing kicks workout is really similar to this file from the race. To win, athletes have to be able to ride at high level, really want it, and then after riding the last part of the race at that high level be able to unleash a sprint to be first to the line. After endurance riding and fatigue throughout the week, we then have Pat Bos push these intervals ending in a max sprint. Part of this workout is mental, knowing you have that kick after riding hard so you’re not timid at the end of the race. There’s no numbers present on purpose but trust me, those spikes are solidly in the upper 4 digit range and he did this workout to a T.
Adding this workout with increased intensity before the sprint AND adding in some anaerobic capacity and Patrick’s Late season is getting better and better.
Zack Alli
son’s affinity for cycling started when he was 14 racing on the East Coast and his enjoyment of the sport lead him to pursue his BSEd in Exercise Science from Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, Colorado. He currently races for Team Clif Bar and owns the Source Endurance Training Center of the Rockies. Growing up in the sport with many great mentors, he loves to pay it forward, using a combination of education and race experience. You can often find him zooming around on Fort Collin’s many gravel roads or on its countless mountain bike trails.
Learn more about Zack.