Race Shape › Cycling › 16-week 160 km ride
Cycling · 16 weeks16-week 160 km ride training plan
A 16-week 160 km ride training plan takes a rider with an FTP of 220 W riding about five hours a week from where they are to race day in 17 weeks, building to 8h14 of training in the biggest week. It spends 6 weeks in base, 6 weeks in build, 2 weeks in peak, 2 weeks in taper, with 3 lighter weeks to absorb the work, on 6 days a week.
Build my 160 km ride plan — freeBuilt from your own numbers and your own week. The first week is free.
16 weeks is a comfortable length for a 160 km ride. There is room for a proper base before the harder work, lighter weeks to absorb it, and a taper that leaves you fresh rather than flat.
What the weeks are for
| Base | 6 weeks — aerobic volume, mostly easy, the foundation everything else stands on |
|---|---|
| Build | 6 weeks — the harder sessions arrive and volume keeps climbing |
| Peak | 2 weeks — the biggest, most race-specific weeks |
| Taper | 2 weeks — volume drops, intensity stays, you arrive fresh |
| Lighter weeks | 3, roughly every fourth week |
| Total | 108 hours |
The 17 weeks
Generated for a rider with an FTP of 220 W riding about five hours a week.
| Week | Phase | Hours | Load | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Base | 4h 30 | 153 | |
| 2 | Base | 4h 56 | 175 | |
| 3 | Base | 5h 26 | 199 | |
| 4 | Base · down | 4h 07 | 135 | |
| 5 | Base | 5h 50 | 219 | |
| 6 | Base | 6h 17 | 240 | |
| 7 | Build | 6h 04 | 264 | |
| 8 | Build · down | 6h 04 | 264 | |
| 9 | Build | 6h 36 | 291 | |
| 10 | Build | 7h 03 | 312 | |
| 11 | Build | 7h 32 | 336 | |
| 12 | Build · down | 6h 37 | 292 | |
| 13 | Peak | 7h 25 | 358 | |
| 14 | Peak | 7h 58 | 391 | |
| 15 | Taper | 8h 14 | 396 | |
| 16 | Taper | 6h 04 | 288 | |
| 17 | Race · race | 7h 02 | 591 |
The biggest week, session by session
Week 15, taper phase — the heaviest week of the block.
| Monday | Endurance ride — 0h56 |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | Endurance ride — 0h56 |
| Wednesday | Endurance ride — 0h56 |
| Friday | Endurance ride — 0h56 |
| Saturday | Long ride — 2h58 |
| Sunday | Strength — lower body — 0h27 |
| Sunday | Threshold — 3 × 10 min — 1h05 |
The power zones
| Recovery | 0–121 W — Easy enough to be slightly boring. That is the point. |
|---|---|
| Endurance | 123–165 W — All-day pace. Conversational, and most of your riding. |
| Tempo | 167–191 W — Working, but you could hold it for an hour or more. |
| Sweet spot | 194–207 W — Most of the threshold benefit for much less fatigue. The workhorse. |
| Threshold | 209–231 W — About what you could hold for an hour, flat out. |
| VO₂max | 233–264 W — Three to five minutes at a time and no more. Deeply unpleasant. |
Andrew Coggan's zones as fractions of an FTP of 220 W. No power meter? The plan prescribes the same sessions by heart rate off your threshold heart rate instead.
What this plan says out loud
You are starting from a low base, so the first few weeks are deliberately modest. Consistency now is worth more than any single session.
Some sessions have been cut to fit the time you said you have — 75 minutes on a weekday and 270 at the weekend. That is a real constraint and the plan respects it, but be aware the long session is the one that matters most: if you can find more time anywhere, find it on the weekend.
Race day looks like about 5:41:39 on today's fitness — Ride 5h 42. Riding in a bunch can take an hour off this and a headwind can put it back on. It is an order of magnitude, not a prediction.
Common questions
Is 16 weeks enough for a 160 km ride?
Yes, for most people who already exercise. We would choose at least 12 weeks, and this is 16.
How many days a week does it train?
6, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday in this example. You tell the plan which days you actually have, and it never puts two hard days back to back.
What is the longest session?
Long ride with race efforts, about 3h00. It is capped by share of the week, by absolute length, and by the time you say you have.
Can I use this if I train at altitude?
Yes, and you should say so when you build it. Paces and power are corrected for the difference between where you tested and where you train — in Johannesburg that is roughly 8%, or about 26 seconds a kilometre on an easy run for a 20-minute 5 km runner.