FTP and intervals. How often??

[eins4eins]

gran fondos are all about aerobic fitness. some structured sweetspot and treshold work will benefit you greatly. Put in some vo2max efforts from time to time and you'll get faster a lot on your rides.
you won't need to test every few weeks. working around treshold regularly will give you a good enough feel for your FTP. some classic stuff like 2*20' at 100% is a great workout and will let you know easily if your FTP is set right.

[DOUG]

Ive done FTP tests in the past but started working with a coach for the first time 18 months ago. Based on past experiences I was skeptical that testing your FTP was even worthwhile at all, setting your training zones and then adjusting according to HR response and RPE is more accurate IMO. Turns out so was he, match made in heaven! If I find that the last few sessions have been too easy, (especially if theyre sweet spot or something like that) and Im getting to my rest days without feeling like I even need one then we bump the FTP by 5-10W and see how that goes, assuming he agrees after reviewing the data.

My cyclist brain is still obsessed with the numbers but as @tobinhatesyou points out testing your FTP is really no where near as important as everyone makes out. I would be confident that my FTP is within 5w of what I could produce in a test if properly rested/tapered

[Lewn777]

FTP is pretty much just a very vague general guide not really to be taken seriously. I've done 1500m climbs over an hour and a half with 270 watts and yet sometimes my indoor tested FTP can be as low as 280w. So much depends on freshness, fitness, fatigue, mental positivity, air temperature, road type (grade percentage, consistency and smoothness) and PM variability. Then you do it for 20 minutes and use an equation to get a one hour result. How silly, surely you're only testing your 20 minute power?

Still, it's useful as a guide to have an idea of your w/kg and know training zones etc.

[onemanpeloton]

gran fondos are all about aerobic fitness. some structured sweetspot and treshold work will benefit you greatly. Put in some vo2max efforts from time to time and you'll get faster a lot on your rides.
you won't need to test every few weeks. working around treshold regularly will give you a good enough feel for your FTP. some classic stuff like 2*20' at 100% is a great workout and will let you know easily if your FTP is set right.

so an ftp test then

[blaugrana]

gran fondos are all about aerobic fitness. some structured sweetspot and treshold work will benefit you greatly. Put in some vo2max efforts from time to time and you'll get faster a lot on your rides.
you won't need to test every few weeks. working around treshold regularly will give you a good enough feel for your FTP. some classic stuff like 2*20' at 100% is a great workout and will let you know easily if your FTP is set right.

so an ftp test then

Not really, because on a 20 minute FTP test you are actually riding above FTP intensity, and then you multiply the result by a certain factor to get the FTP. 20 minutes at FTP intensity are hard, but not nearly as much as riding them at your absolute limit.

[bikeboy1tr]

One of the things I dont like about FTP is that to get a good result aside from all the other factors like tapering beforehand and what not, is you need to do it into the wind or going up a reasonable grade and that normally leads to lower RPM for me which when I do my intvals I try to keep the RPMs up around 85-90 if I can. When I do my FTP Test my AVG RPM is usually about 80-85 which I dont care much for because its not real world IMO. Typically as you fatigue during the test you start pushing bigger gears which if you were actually doing a 1 hr TT that would not be a good thing 20min into the TT. So my aim during the test is to have 85 RPM AVG and when I do my intvals, normally 10min intvals I try to keep the RPMs up around 90 if at all possible.
I agree with people saying once you have done the test and establish a base (preseason) then go with RPE and keep an eye on the PM to see if the FTP needs tweaking and if it does then do another test. Normally I only do about three tests a year just going by feel.