King of the Lake Training Plan & Preparation

Course & Elevation

Once around Lake Attersee, clockwise, on fully closed roads: that is the ASVÖ King of the Lake, regarded as Europe's largest individual time trial. Start and finish sit at the marina in Kammer near Schörfling, from where the loop leads via Weyregg, Unterach and Attersee back to where it began. Alongside individual riders, four-person teams take on the 47.2 km, raced in late September against an autumnal lakeside backdrop.

The profile is as flat as the region allows: a good half of the course is level and there are virtually no steep ramps. Four short rises interrupt the rhythm, the longest at km 23.8 with 1.3 km at 3.6 percent, plus shorter ramps at km 31.4 and 34.5 with pitches around 7 percent. The final small rise comes at km 45.4, just before the road swings back towards the marina.

Between those waves lies what defines this event: long, fast straights along the water where the road belongs entirely to the riders. Three intermediate timing points at km 12, 34 and 44.7 give the race its structure and make every lap of the lake comparable, year after year and rider against rider.

Pacing Strategy

A time trial on a mostly flat course is won by even power, not by attacks. Pick a wattage you can hold just below threshold for the full 47 kilometres, and resist the urge to overcook the flat opening – the classic time-trial mistake. Stay in a clean, low position as long as possible, because on a course that's 54 percent flat, aerodynamics decides the seconds.

The only real interruption is a 1.3-kilometre rise at kilometre 24 (up to seven percent, 45 metres); lift your power there briefly without going into the red, then immediately regain speed and position over the top. As it's a loop you finish at start elevation – pace it so the second half is no slower than the first.

12-Week Preparation

For most age-group riders the lap of Lake Attersee takes between 65 and 90 minutes, with the fastest staying just over the hour. That is the classic threshold effort: one long, even push without drafting, where aerobic capacity, threshold power and aerodynamics decide almost everything.

A course this flat forgives no pacing errors. There are no descents to sneak recovery into and no climbs to reshuffle the field, only your own number held for three quarters of an hour or more. The four short rises, above all the 1.3 km at km 23.8, are the only places where a controlled push above target power pays off, provided you settle straight back into rhythm afterwards. The final rise at km 45.4 arrives when your legs are already burning and deserves a line in your race plan.

The core of your preparation is long threshold work: start around 2 by 20 minutes and build over the weeks towards 40 to 60 continuous minutes in your target zone. Position endurance matters just as much: holding a low, still aero position for an hour is a trained skill, so move a growing share of your intervals onto the time trial bike in race posture.

Finally, rehearse the whole race at least once: a full-distance effort with checkpoints at your planned splits, including the measured surges over the rises. On the Attersee, the rider who holds the steadiest line on the power chart is usually the fastest one around the lake.