<\/p>\n The way I think about effort has changed a lot over time. Do you remember when you were a teenager and you thought you were working hard? You thought that homework, soccer practice and taking out the trash were big accomplishments for the day. The adults always told you that it would only get harder from there. That life would stack more time commitments and responsibilities on your plate every year until you can finally retire. By your late 30s, they said, you\u2019d need a full pot of coffee just to feel human.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t want that life.<\/p>\n I set ambitious goals and spent years trying to become a professional road cyclist. I never quite made it<\/a>, and in 2020, I stepped away from the sport altogether. When I moved back home, I turned to indoor training as a form of catharsis. I rode a few hours a day, but never really thought about road racing again.<\/p>\n Fast forward to 2022, and I was racing for the USA National Team in the UCI eSport World Championships<\/a>. I finished in the middle of the pack, but it was eye-opening to see what I could become. Indoor bike racing was becoming a profession, with riders beginning to make a legitimate living from prize money<\/a>.<\/p>\n Over the next few years, I kept working, training and racing on the indoor trainer. Yet I also continued living a “normal” life alongside cycling. I was going out on the weekends, drinking with friends and eating fried chicken from the grocery store. I wasn\u2019t living like a professional cyclist, not even close.<\/p>\n Yet I was still performing well, winning a few prestigious esports races and competing with an FTP around 385 watts<\/a>. Weighing in at 70kg, that put my FTP at 5.5w\/kg<\/a>. It was a very respectable number, good enough for domestic road success, but I was only focused on indoor cycling until 2025.<\/p>\n Last year, I borrowed a gravel bike and won the Dust Bowl 100, a regional gravel race in Indiana. Not only had I won, but I set the course record after riding solo for the final hour of the race. It was a performance that rewired my sense of what I was capable of. Suddenly, I was aiming at much bigger goals.<\/p>\n \n Zach Nehr racing gravel (Image credit: Zach Nehr)<\/p>\n Lauf Gravel Worlds <\/a>was next, and despite losing 30 minutes walking through mud, I finished the race with a Normalised Power of 300w for eight hours. My legs were good, but my technical skills were not. I went on to finish in the top half of the elite fields at USA Gravel Nationals and Big Sugar<\/a>, yet something still felt unfinished.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n I thought to myself: if I can perform like this while giving 80% of my effort, what happens when I finally give 100%?<\/p>\n That\u2019s when I came up with the Road to 450w FTP<\/a>. Since I was already at an FTP of 385w, 400w seemed too easy. I could get there in a month. So I upped the difficulty.<\/p>\n Sure, 420w would be a nice goal, giving me 6w\/kg at 70kg, but again, that felt too safe. I don\u2019t just want to be good, I want to see what \u201cgreat\u201d actually demands. So I landed on 450w, a number that would put me alongside the best riders in the world. These days, almost every WorldTour pro has an FTP of 400w, while the very best have far more in the tank.<\/p>\n Powerhouses like Filippo Ganna<\/a>, Mathieu Van der Poel<\/a>, and Wout Van Aert<\/a> have FTPs closer to 500w<\/a>. But they weigh 75\u201385kg depending on the time of year. These riders are taller and heavier than me, so I didn\u2019t want to make a direct FTP comparison.<\/p>\n The best climbers in the world are 60\u201365kg, much lighter and shorter than me, with higher w\/kg. Featherweights like Jonas Vingegaard<\/a>, Remco Evenepoel<\/a> and Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d<\/a> likely have FTPs of 400\u2013430w, but their small frames still allow them to hold nearly 7w\/kg for half an hour.<\/p>\n Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a> is the exception to every rule. Despite weighing ~66kg, the Slovenian likely has an FTP around 450w (6.9w\/kg). The ease with which he drops the best riders in the world makes the data feel almost conservative.<\/p>\n The most direct comparisons for me are riders between 175\u2013180cm who weigh 68\u201372kg. These riders can be exceptional climbers, time trialists, puncheurs or sprinters. Riders like Isaac Del Toro<\/a>, Florian Lipowitz<\/a> and Matteo Jorgenson <\/a>fall into this category. Strong and powerful at roughly 70kg, these riders are pushing around 450w (6.4w\/kg) for an hour. Gravel and eSport cycling widen the range even further with athletes like Matt Beers boasting an FTP of 480w (5.8w\/kg)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Three-time UCI eSport Cycling World Champion Jason Osborne <\/a>has an FTP of 460w (6.6w\/kg), while also having the anaerobic ability to push 550w (8w\/kg) for five minutes. Osborne is a step above every other rider in eSport cycling. He races like Poga\u010dar; attacking at will, shredding the peloton and riding solo to victory in almost every race he starts. No one can compete with Osborne at the moment. So I asked myself a few simple questions: why not me? What is holding me back? And what is Osborne doing that I\u2019m not?<\/p>\n As a racer and cycling coach, I\u2019ve spent the last decade learning everything I possibly could about performance. While I\u2019ll keep a few secrets to myself, I can share the pillars that are shaping this attempt.<\/p>\n \n (Image credit: Zach Nehr)1. Mental toughness and commitment<\/p>\n The biggest improvement that I\u2019ve ever made to my performance is repeating this mantra before every race or workout: \u201cI am going to give it my all today. If it doesn\u2019t work out, that\u2019s OK. But I will not choose to give up.\u201d<\/p>\n For far too long, I was giving up mentally<\/a> before my body gave up physically. I was quitting five-minute VO2 Max intervals <\/a>at the halfway point because I thought it hurt too much. But as soon as I flipped the switch in my head, that I would never choose to give up, I suddenly found myself able to complete these intervals, push through the pain, and unlock better performances.<\/p>\n 2. Zone 2 or VO2 <\/p>\n My training plan is very basic. VO2 Max intervals<\/a>, Zone 2 and recovery rides make up 95% of my training. That means lots of 40\/20s<\/a>, 30\/30s<\/a>, three-minute and four-minute VO2 Max intervals. You can play around with the structure a lot (e.g. 10x 30\/30s<\/a> versus 5 x 40\/20s), but the main focus is VO2 Max power. Coupling this type of training with Zone 1 and Zone 2 rides<\/a> has helped me make steady, long-term gains without burning out.<\/p>\n 3. Torgue Intervals<\/p>\n Low cadence, high power intervals <\/a>have helped me improve my fatigue resistance and overall power output. I perform torque intervals once every week or two in blocks of 4-10 minutes. The target cadence is somewhere between 40-60 rpm, while the target power is between tempo and threshold. I get the most out of these intervals by performing them seated, though a few seconds out of the saddle helps break up the monotony and utilise different muscle groups.<\/p>\n Those are the three biggest changes that I\u2019ve made to my training in 2026, and if you\u2019re reading this, you can do the same. While I don\u2019t recommend jumping into extremely hard VO2 Max workouts right away, I do recommend working on your mental game first<\/a>. This sets the framework for not just your cycling performance, but your entire life.<\/p>\n Once you find yourself in a good mental space, you will have the ability to accomplish more than you ever thought was possible. As you advance your training, you can try the workouts described above. Remember to start slowly and ease yourself into a new type of interval or session. Progressive overload<\/a> is the key to making major gains and lifelong fitness improvements.<\/p>\n For example, try three sets of four minutes at 85% FTP and 55 rpm for your first torque workout. While the pros can handle 4x5min at 100% FTP and 40 rpm, that is a recipe for disaster as a beginner to torque. Ease into the sessions, give yourself ample recovery time, and you will feel the long-term gains stacking up.<\/p>\n When it comes to my own journey, achieving a 450w FTP isn\u2019t about the end goal. It\u2019s about the process and everything I will learn about myself along the way. It\u2019s the loftiest goal that I\u2019ve set in my entire life. I truly don\u2019t know if I can do it, but I am certainly going to try.<\/p>\n![\"Zach](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/jsK8RZg87LNBQqKrKQXtPS.jpg\")
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