If you don’t want to spend loads on new kit, and don’t fancy hiring a coach either, then you’ll have to organise your own training plan (there’s plenty of good advice out there). And that plan should include some kind of interval-based work.

Intervals are great, because you can yield a relatively high reward for a comparatively small amount of work, and by that we mean that you don’t have to do three hour threshold intervals at a time to see your power increase.

The down side is that intervals aren’t always fun. Well, to be honest, they’re pretty much never fun in the truest sense of the word. Unless you think that wheezing in and out with more moisture pouring off your forehead than standing in a monsoon, with your thighs burning like you’re being tortured, is fun. If so, you’re in luck.

In all seriousness, though, interval training is a great way to make yourself work hard while keeping things mentally manageable. When you’re working at high intensities it’s tough on the body but even harder on the mind, and forcing yourself to keep going can be very difficult. So splitting the work up into chunks with rest in between will help you to keep going.

Intervals come in different shapes and sizes, threshold/lacate tolerance intervals and sweetspot training to name but two, and all will focus on a different aspect of riding. So decide what you want to improve, build it into your training plan and start riding those intervals.