Hi Reader
This week on the podcast I had Phil Burt back on the show. Phil's one of the best bike fitters in the world - he spent years working with Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins, and the Great Britain Olympic cycling team. His LinkedIn post about FTP being overrated caused quite a stir.
His point wasn't that FTP doesn't matter. It's that FTP is the engine. What you build it on - the chassis - is what actually determines whether that engine does anything useful on race day.
I mentioned on the podcast that my own FTP hasn't changed since I started working with Phil. Not a watt. But my riding has been transformed. Long gravel rides that used to leave me aching and glad to throw the bike in a ditch now feel composed and controlled. The difference wasn't more power. It was better foundations - bike fit, crank length, position - and the strength and mobility to hold that position for five or six hours.
Dave Schell, who joined me a couple of weeks ago to talk about ultra gravel events, made a similar point about long course racing. He said that at hour seven of a 200 mile ride, nobody is thinking about their FTP. They're fighting fatigue, nausea, and mental tiredness, and what separates the people who hold it together from the ones who fall apart is robustness. Bike fit and body resilience. Not a number on a screen.
Here's where this becomes relevant to your season right now.
Race mode has a habit of eating the fundamentals. The strength sessions get dropped because you're tired from racing. The mobility work disappears because there isn't time. The nutrition habits that were solid in the spring start to slip because race week always feels like an exception.
And meanwhile the FTP number stays on the screen looking reassuring, while the foundations underneath it quietly erode.
The athletes who hold their form deepest into a long season aren't always the ones with the highest numbers. They're the ones who protect the basics when everyone else is abandoning them.
Train smart,
Wardy
P.S. If keeping those fundamentals in place across a full season - not just for one race - is something you want support with, that's exactly what SWAT is built for.
Find out more: https://simon-ward.kit.com/products/swat-inner-circle
P.P.S. This week's podcast with Phil Burt is well worth a listen - the conversation about FTP, bike fit, and what actually makes the difference in long course racing is one of the more honest discussions I've had on the show.
Listen [here] Why comfort beats FTP in Long Distance Cycling
and read the full article here. Your FTP is not the problem. Your bike fit probably is.