So Andrea was just analyzing Vittori Bussi the Italian working on the world record attempt and the crazy thing is she is working at 61 rpm. I realize this is an outlier case but it re-iterates the point that higher RPM is not always better. Not to mention in climbing pros tend to be all over the place, some low RPM guys and obviously many higher RPM guys.
This is my friend Rich that is ex-pro cyclist also talking about cadence. You have to watch the whole thing to see how he points out “it depends.”
I think at the end of the day, riding at your own self-optimized cadence is best for maximum performance today but doing cadence drills from time to time can help your body potentially adjust to a new optimization that is even more efficient.