Is ROUVY the secret to smashing your triathlon bike leg in 2026?

The immersive qualities and huge amount of fitness-specific workouts and training plans means indoor training app ROUVY will keep you riding strong this winter…

As triathletes, we swim, we bike, we run. It’s an all-round thing and we love it. Or it should be. You see, historically, once the winter nights draw in, triathletes would divert greater focus more to running (often off-road) and swimming, with the bike taking a back seat. For many, darkness and wet roads are understandably not the happiest of bedfellows.

Thankfully, those dark days are behind us as ROUVY will ensure you can continue your cycling journey throughout the off-season, guaranteeing you’re in peak swim, bike and run condition come the 2026 race season.

Riding 100km a week during the summer months? There’s no reason you can’t do the same with ROUVY and, we’d argue, the gains to be had are even greater because of the plethora of fitness-specific workouts. Let us explain…

Variety of workouts

ROUVY is designed to improve your performance all-year-round thanks to the immersive combination of real video footage and augmented reality. It’s captivating, draws you in, raises a smile and keeps you pedalling.

But to really hone your fitness and optimise your riding, you want ‘workouts’. They’re not as brutal you might think and the benefits are huge.

To optimise your workouts, you must ensure your profile’s up to speed. That means fundamentals like your correct weight and functional threshold of power, aka your FTP.

This is traditionally achieved via the Ramp Test, which you can find in the workouts section of ROUVY. You can also find out more about the importance of FTP to your triathlon cycling here.

Once you’ve updated your settings, you’re good to go with hundreds of workouts to choose from. For ease of use, these are categorised by available time and the training effect you’re after.

Looking to boost your VO2max this winter, so you can utilise more oxygen and ride stronger and longer? ROUVY has the workouts for you.

Looking to climb like multiple Challenge victor and ROUVY ambassador Frederic Funk? ROUVY has you covered with a range of climbing workouts that’ll boost strength and power?

Looking to crank up your cadence, ride better at tempo, build endurance so you’re even stronger off the bike for a run PB? You get the picture. ROUVY’s got it all.

If you’ve enjoyed a brief off-season break, we’d recommend the ‘Getting Started’ workouts to ease you in. But whichever workouts you choose, you’ll ride across a range of zones and intensities, again depending on your fitness preference.

Your workouts take place on a pre-selected route or select one of your favourite routes from the1500-plus available, whether that’s taming Alpe d’Huez – the perfect recce if you’re racing the Alpe d’Huez Triathlon in 2026 – or the bike legs of one of the many Challenge routes on ROUVY.

ROUVY and Challenge have hooked up to bring you myriad races from the Challenge Family, including Challenge Samorin, Challenge Canberra, Challenge Wanaka and many more. On each, you’re given your heart rate, power output and cadence to keep you on track.

ROUVY has also partnered with Ironman, offering a range of Ironman routes so you can train along your target race route. And if none of the pre-made routes take your fancy, then you can record and ride your own with ROUVY’s new route creator tool.

Once you’ve become accustomed and enjoyed the many immersive and memorable routes available, you might want to tap into ROUVY’s workout creator tool to design customised sessions depending on your fitness, aims and available time.

Simply go to the ‘Workout’ page and click on ‘Create workout’. You can then add segments of pre-defined training zones. The ROUVY app chooses a default route, but you have the option to unleash your customise session on a route of your choosing. You can then share to your fellow users or keep it private.

Structured training plans

All of these workouts are designed to keep you riding this winter. But if you want a little more structure, you can tap into ROUVY’s training plans. There are numerous plans to keep you entertained, engaged and progressing throughout the winter months with the plans categorised as ‘easy’, ‘medium’ or ‘hard’ depending on your fitness. In general, these are four to eight weeks long.

As an example for the active triathlete, the four-week time-trialist’s plan includes three sessions a week aboard your triathlon bike or road bike with aerobars. This’ll see you improve your time-trialling skills, as well as hitting tempo and sweetspot zones to boost fitness. There are also VO2max plans, FTP plans, speed plans, endurance plans, plus plans to refine your climbing and accelerate your sprint.

By tapping into ROUVY this off-season, you can continue your cycling journey. But one final thing before you sign up, remember that you’ll need a set of rollers or a turbo trainer. If you have one of these, you’ll need Bluetooth or ANT+ speed and cadence sensors. This then syncs to your computer, tablet or smartphone where, after downloading the ROUVY app, you can pedal away to your heart’s content.

If you have a smart trainer or smart bike, no sensor’s required. You just ride. These are the ideal as you’ll enjoy (or endure!) the real-life resistance that comes with changes in terrain. You’ll also need a fan to cool you on hot rides.

ROUVY plans now start from £17.99, with several package options.

Right, time for you to lay the foundations for your personal best in 2026…