Lying Down the Hours (The Modern Training Approach of Vojtěch Hačecký)

They call it the race of truth. It lays bare the strength of the individual—because, for once, there’s no hiding in the draft, no outsmarting your rivals. It’s just you, your bike, and the clock. And if we want to improve our time trialing skills, time is exactly what we’ll need to invest.

It’s not just about watts in a time trial. Aerodynamic drag plays a massive role—and while you can’t train aerodynamics per se, you can address it. That means refining your position and gradually adapting to it. Or, if you have the means, you can buy speed—by upgrading your bike, skinsuit, helmet, chain, derailleur pulley wheels, bearings, disc wheels, trispokes… Even as an amateur, you can book time in a wind tunnel (budget permitting), do aero testing at a velodrome, or use devices that measure drag in real-world conditions. These aren’t necessarily expensive and make a lot of sense if you're serious about time trials—they provide real-time feedback on things like whether you’re shifting out of position in the saddle or how small head movements affect drag.

Aerodynamics became a major focus about 15 years ago. Remember Jan Ullrich at the Sydney Olympics? His extensions were pointed practically at the front wheel, funneling air into his chest—but even then, he could power through it and hold 50 km/h. That era is over. Today, everyone is chasing every last watt. Slovakia’s 2023 national TT champion, Ronald Kuba, is technically an amateur—but he has the time and resources to fine-tune his position and efficiency, despite relatively modest power numbers.

A universal piece of advice, whether you’re a pro or a hobby rider: the more flexible your hamstrings are, the lower you can position your torso, and the lower your aerodynamic drag. You can buy any bike you like, but your body is still the biggest source of drag. The bike itself contributes no more than 10% to the total. So the first priority is adapting to an aggressive position—then fine-tuning your fit.

I started this discussion with fit and gear intentionally—because even pros, when they switch teams, start by dialing in their position on the new bike. I remember how long it took Bernal to get his TT fit dialed at Team Sky—they spent 11 hours with him on the velodrome in Valencia. It was a joint effort between fitter and rider, but the result helped bring home a Tour de France title. Ironically, he later crashed into a bus in Colombia—on his TT bike.

If you want to focus on time trials and already have your fit sorted, you’ll need to spend time riding in that position. We’ve said many times: training volume affects movement economy. Every pedal stroke is better than the last. In time trials, that’s doubly true. You can’t expect to train exclusively on your road bike, then hop on your TT bike and magically be fast. It might work OK if your training is well-structured, but you won’t realize your full potential without adaptation. Learning to hold your position, to tuck your head between your shoulders, to close off your chest to the wind—that takes dozens, even hundreds of hours. Pros have them. You’ll need some too, even as an amateur.

Time trialing is also physiologically demanding. The bent-over position compresses your abdomen, limiting your ability to breathe efficiently. If you resort to upper-chest breathing, you increase intrathoracic pressure, which in turn compresses the heart and reduces cardiac output. That’s why it’s crucial to maintain proper diaphragmatic breathing even in a TT tuck. Your movement economy also changes—your muscles engage differently due to the forward-shifted position, and your neuromuscular system has to adapt to that too. And again, that takes hours.

The TT position is a complex skill—it’s not something you can master in a week. But falling off your bike is a greater loss than keeping your head 5 cm higher to see the road clearly. So be sensible. Put in the hours. On endurance rides, take the TT bike, use your training wheels, and gradually get used to the position. Especially as the event gets longer. You can gut it out for a few minutes, but riding in that position for a full hour? There’s a reason why riders who’ve done the Hour Record say the hardest part is simply staying in position. As Merckx famously said, it was “the longest hour of my life.”

I’d recommend dedicating one or two sessions per week specifically to the TT position—even on the trainer. All winter, your TT bike can stay mounted, and you can rack up the hours. But don’t ride it on the brake hoods! Get into the aero bars as soon as possible, even at low intensity. As you get closer to your target event, increase the time spent in position.

Most amateur time trialists target two or three events per year. That makes it worth asking yourself if full-time commitment to TTing is really for you—because the cost and time investment can be significant. Yes, you’ll see some benefits transfer over to your road position, but full-on TT prep isn’t for everyone. You’ll need to assess how much you want to invest, how much time you can devote, and what gear you have available.

That said, everything we’ve discussed applies even if you’re riding time trials on a road bike. You can still add clip-on bars and spend time using them. See what happens. You can do TT events on a budget—adjust your fit with online guides, use a regular bike. It might not be optimal, but it’s about cost per kilometer. In the end, you might find that one well-fit bike can take you through everything—and again, your body remains the biggest drag source.

Let’s say you’re a hobby rider and you want to focus on a couple of time trials per season. A 20- to 30-kilometer TT will likely mean 30 to 40 minutes of near-max effort. You’ll need to be able to buffer your internal environment—to tolerate efforts beyond what your breathing can fully support, to handle the buildup of metabolic byproducts, and to resist fatigue.

Even on your TT bike, most sessions will be low intensity. But you should still include one or two weekly intervals above race intensity. That’s how you train breathing, delivery, and specificity—all in position. These intervals should be five to six minutes long—short enough to repeat, and high enough in intensity to create adaptations beyond race pace.

Four to five weeks before your goal event, swap one high-intensity session for a tempo workout—longer efforts of 12, 15, or 20 minutes at race pace. These sessions teach you to lock into your tempo and hold an efficient cadence—not 80 rpm, but higher.

Low cadence fatigues the muscles faster. Sure, Ullrich used to grind out a low cadence—but just like TT positions, pedaling style has evolved. Today, pros spin at 95–105 rpm. That said, don’t force discomfort. If you're used to 80 rpm, try dropping one gear lighter and spin a bit faster. That improves efficiency and endurance.

Training exclusively on flat terrain isn’t ideal, either—most TTs have some elevation. Practice transitions. Include segments that move from flat to uphill or downhill to flat. Riders often lose the most time at the crest of a hill—they reach the top gassed, ease off, and lose momentum.

Same goes for pacing into climbs: don’t try to maintain speed at all costs. If you go 200–300 watts above target just to keep rolling, you’ll blow up and slow down far more than if you’d eased off early. Be sensitive, adjust on the fly. Don’t rigidly chase one power number—it only works on a flat Ironman course. And to dial this in, four to five race-pace workouts in the final month should do the trick.

To some extent, you can also train for TTs with hill intervals. The position isn’t specific, but your circulatory and ventilatory systems are still working full tilt. You’re setting a pace, holding it, learning to tolerate discomfort, and adapting to higher CO₂ levels. It’s mental training too—because it’s your brain that decides when to quit. That’s what separates great time trialists from good ones.