We have a couple of crits and circuit races with short hills every lap. And for the elite world championship road races they typically set up the course as a long circuit with a tough climb. That was true when Cadel Evans won a couple of years ago. Each time through the circuit and up the hill off of race pace, the field gets cut.

A training routine I did a couple of years ago was 15 laps up a 4 minute hill at race pace. The coach positioned himself on the toughest part of the climb and monitored our cadence and form as we rode by. He wanted power on and high cadence on the descent. 5 up in a specified gear, 5 up in the big ring and 5 up any way we can. Roger Young loves the pulsed workouts where you ride at race pace and take a surge in the legs repeatedly. One of his favorites is to ride behind the motor and drop into the pole lane for a lap next to the motor and then accelerate to get back on. Or flying kilos, where you ride behind the motor at constantly increasing speed for 3 laps and complete the 4th lap on your own without losing pace. This is why average speed is a bogus metric for deciding if one is ready to race. It is the accelerations well above race pace and VAM that separate racers from the pack.

I have never puked in athletic competition or training but lately my arms can start to feel numb on a hard motor paced effort at the track which means blood is being channeled to the legs at the expense of non power producing extremities. I have seen others puke but only a couple of times in over 55 years of being an athlete. I think a lot of that has to do with poor eating habits and poor fitness while trying to do something that is too hard. I definitely have not seen anyone pee their pants although, we did stop a race peloton and everyone peed.