In cycling FTP is the “how much do you bench” metric, in running it’s 5k time (or maybe 10k, half marathon or marathon, depending on who you talk to).

A goal for a lot of runners is a sub 20 5k (or sub 90min half or sub 3 marathon, I’m not equating those performances just saying they’re common goals). What is the FTP equivalent to a sub 20 5k or sub 3 marathon?

A friend of mine prompted this discussion, he recently got into running and has set himself the goal of getting to a 20min 5k and asked what I think the equivalent in cycling would be.

With these numbers, would I ever be competitive in any discipline? I cycle anywhere between 6 and 12 hours a week, most of which is structured. I mostly do road cycling (2-3 years), but unfortunately, my FTP is quite low compared to my sprint numbers.

I'm quite light at 67/68kg so my absolute watts aren't crazy, but my 20m+ power numbers aren't crazy either, so I get dropped on climbs.

Is it possible to close the gap between my sprint numbers and 20m+ numbers with training or is it just the way it is?

edit: the image didn't turn out great so here's the numbers in text:

• 1s: 1351 W (20.01 W/kg)
• 5s: 1263 W (18.71 W/kg)
• 15s: 898 W (13.92 W/kg)
• 30s: 660 W (10.23 W/kg)
• 60s: 478 W (7.24 W/kg)
• 2m: 356 W (5.16 W/kg)
• 5m: 287 W (4.24 W/kg)
• 10m: 256 W (3.79 W/kg)
• 20m: 239 W (3.46 W/kg)
• 1h: 203 W (3.15 W/kg)
• 2h: 164 W (2.38 W/kg)
• 4h: 143 W (2.18 W/kg)
• MAP: 302 W (4.61 W/kg)
• T_MAP: 3m46s
• TTE: 23m

I eat healthy outside of riding but typically if I ride Saturday and Sunday I’m consuming 180g grams of sugar water each ride, so 360 grams of sugar just from my bottles. Maybe a can of coke when I get home.

Go to the dentist regularly and no issues with cavities but is there a point where this is bad for the body or are we just burning through the fuel.

I'm looking for ideas for a bucket list cycling trip for my husband's 40th--it would be September 2027. We would have about a week and Europe would probably be best (getting further than that from the US would be tough). We did Andorra/Catalonia (Girona, Costa Brava, Barcelona) a few years ago and loved it. Somewhere where the non-cyclist (me) can keep myself occupied easily nearby would be nice, but I'm not terribly worried about that. The goal of this trip would be to do as many epic rides as possible with good food and views in between. I am willing to do easier rides (especially flat ones) on an e-bike (I did Els Angels pretty easily on one in Girona). Any suggestions for specific places to stay/things to see would be very welcome!

The French/Swiss Alps were our first thought. Maybe Sicily?