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Jonas Abrahamsen is back doing disgusting things on his indoor trainer.
Uno-X Mobility’s Tour de France star just crash-landed out of his off-season with two weeks of pure Zwift punishment, capped by a heinous 5-hour interval session.
Abrahamsen’s truly terrible 10 x 20-minute workout this weekend averaged more than 300 watts and was fueled at more than 500 calories per hour.
All told, Abrahamsen’s first fortnight of training for 2026 included 20 hours of butt-numbing, brain-mashing indoor riding.
And that was only just the start.
Based in Oslo, the 30-year-old will be stuck indoors for many months through Norway’s long, dark winter, praying for Uno-X’s sunny team training camps to start.
Last winter, Abrahamsen worked up to more than 25 hours per week staring at Zwift.
Yes. Twenty. Five. Hours.
Only weight-training sessions and some rare arctic expeditions on a CX bike broke the misery of Abrahamsen’s Zwift masochism.
But here’s the thing.
The crazed Norseman seems to love every minute.
“Sometimes I like to do something crazy,” Abrahamsen told Velo earlier this year.
“Sometimes it does something with your head when you’re going five, six hours on a home trainer. I think you get a new barrier, and you find extra motivation.”
One good source of motivation for Abrahamsen this winter? All those stupid indoor sessions clearly work.
His thriller stage-win this summer at the Tour de France made all the time in Watopia worthwhile.
Abrahamsen is a lactate-guided carb monster
Abrahamsen capped his palmares in 2025 with a thrilling stage win in Toulouse. (Photo: Gruber Images)
It’s intriguing to take a closer look at Abrahamsen’s 5-hour indoor odyssey.
Like all his Zwift workouts this winter, it was governed by lactate data.
The use of lactate testing to control interval workouts has been a part of pro cycling for years. However, at Uno-X Mobility, this method of precision intensity control is heavily pushed by the team’s trainer, Olav Alexander Bu.
The visionary physiologist blew up triathlon and running with Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden through his pioneering lactate-guided training philosophy.
(Photo: Abrahamsen / Strava)
Abrahamsen’s horrible 5 hours centered on 10 x 20-minute intervals at lactate threshold 1, the tipping point between “light” and “moderate” intensity. This “aerobic threshold” approximates to upper zone 2.
For Abrahamsen, that’s a ridiculous 350 watts.
His 10 intervals progressed from 340 watts up to 375 watts.
Those are wild wattages for a supposed “all-day pace.” Yes, Abrahamsen weighs in at 77-80kg, but the numbers still work out some way north of 4 w/kg.
Another part of Bu’s training philosophy?
Big carbs, all the time.
And Abrahamsen is clearly taking note. He gobbled 680 grams of carbohydrates during his session, the equivalent of 136g per hour. For context, 136 grams of carbohydrate is nearly 550 calories (!).
Even in today’s high-carb era, Abrahamsen’s fueling strategy is as extreme as his capacity to “Zwift.”
Abrahamsen’s indoor training volume requires serious commitment. For many amateurs, 90 minutes on the turbo is way more than enough.
But Abrahamsen has something to ride for.
Uno-X Mobility was promoted to the WorldTour at the end of this season and will be racing a full premier calendar in 2026.
If 5-hour Zwift rides don’t have him ready for a debut year in the world’s top tier, nothing will.