this was good to think about, thanks for sparking this!
what worked:
more over unders at higher overs and lower unders.
more hard start vo2max vs steady state
less intervals and more (yes even more), endurance
less 5 hour rides and more consistent 4h rides
what didn’t work:
too much tempo on climbs, sometimes left me a bit tired
lifting too heavy of weights in early year
trying to come back from time off TOO fast and TOO hard