Suppose you are going to ride a circuit and in it there is one climb that will last for about 8 tenths of a mile. The other two miles of that circuit is relatively flat.
In a race type event, then one would think that the 2 miles is a way to recover from the climbing effort. However, that 2 miles involves going fast as well. So how does one actually try to recover from a climb and still go fast on the flats? That circuit is several times around.