Old 07-07-09, 01:54 PM
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Howzit
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Originally Posted by totalnewbie
First off, I'd like to say that I know virtually nothing about strategies of racing. However I was very intrigued by the way the TV commentators describe the various strategies and dynamics that go on in TDF. What happened in stage 3 prompted me to initiate a post, hoping that those in the know could explain it to me in plain easy language that a 5-year-old could understand. Below is an excerpt:

Whatever chances the break might have had evaporated when a shift in wind sparked a vicious attack from Team Columbia-HTC, shattering the field and thrusting 27 riders to the finish. In that group were all eight teammates of the previous stage winner Mark Cavendish, along with yellow jersey Fabian Cancellara and Astana's Lance Armstrong. Notably absent were every other major contendors for the general classification. The likes of Sastre, the Schleck brothers, Denis Menchov, Cadel Evans, and most conspicuously, Alberto Contador were all caught sleeping when the move was made.
These are good questions, I am glad you asked this. There has been A LOT of misinformation in the Stage 3 thread.

The first thing I will say is this: The TV commentators have A LOT of experience, but also, a lot of what they say is rhetoric, to make the commentary exciting, and make the athlete's efforts, sometimes, above or below what they are to appease fans.

So getting to your specific questions.


Originally Posted by totalnewbie
Just this excerpt alone triggered a lot of questions for me:
1. why was a shift of wind able to "shatter" the field? doesn't everyone has to ride the same path, face the same wind?
The wind was able to "shatter" the peleton because it was a cross wind. When a cross wind occurs, the bunch forms "echelons". These are diagonal lines that start closest to where the wind is coming from, and the riders take shelter behind each other is this diagonal fashion. The trouble with cross winds is, even within an echelon, the wind still batters you a little and its not easy for anyone. Secondly, you can only have so many riders spread out across the width of the road in these echelons. Once the riders pile up on the edge of the road in last position at the end on the echelon (in cycling this is called the gutter), those riders are completely not sheltered, so a second echelon forms, and once that one fills the width of the road, a third forms and so on.
This creates gaps between the riders from echelon to echelon, usually groups of 15 to 30 riders.
Echelons usually happen on flat roads, because there may be a wide open plain that the winds sweeps across, or its by a body of water. As a result, smaller riders end up in the echelons further back, because they lack the strength to both pedal their way through the cross wind, and control their bike, it takes a lot of effort. Third, they just arent as strong and good in the flats and bigger more powerful riders.

Naturally, this results in stronger riders in front echelons, and weaker riders in the echelons further back. So the effect is compounded as the front echelon rides away, its almost like natural selection.
Lastly, its just one of those things, where some riders are better in the wind than others.

Originally Posted by totalnewbie
2. Alberto Contador were all caught sleeping when the move was made. how did someone got "trapped" in the second group? It's not like one could be blocked. Why wouldn't Contador or other contenders, in this case, just rode harder to catch up with the front group? If they can't, what's the "barrier" that prevented them from catching up?
Yes, they were "blocked" by the wind!
No matter how hard they rode, they could not get across. This is why cross winds are a special phenomenon in cycling. No matter how hard you may try, if there is a cross wind, you are not going to bridge the gap to the next group. The "barrier" that was there was the cross wind. Now there are some people here that may try to tell you that you can bridge a cross wind ridden gap, but dont believe it. Proof was in the pudding yesterday, and for the last hundred years in bike racing. One does not simply posses the power to ride across. A man cannot throw a stone to the moon, he simply doesnt have the power. Now, since this is a mostly an Amercian speaking forum, i should add that there are exceptions. Usually, when one says "All" in conversation, it means majority but not all.

Originally Posted by totalnewbie
3. I saw on TV that Cancellera and some riders actually rode over the median frantically. What was the big deal for them to do such things? And if doing so gained them some advantage, why didn't all riders do that, instead of just a few?
Couple of reasons. It doesnt take much effort or skill to hop over a median to join the main group if you see a small number going the long way and you dont want to.
Secondly, Cancellera heard on the radio, that that turn signaled that the new direction of the road meant the cross wind in question. Knowing this, he wanted to make sure he was in the first 20 spots in the bunch. Going the long way around that round-about would have placed him a lot further back in the bunch. In an interview after the race, Cancellera tells the media that just shortly after juncturing the group after hopping the median, the split happened.
All the riders didnt do that because they do this all day. Half the time a small group goes the long way around the round-about, and they rejoin the group just fine, albeit some place further back in the group. They just didnt expect the split to occur the way it did and when it did. Im sure they were all aware of the windy roads, its just that these guys ride thousands of kilometers in races day after day going around these turns and return to the bunch just fine without having to frantically hop medians. I must add however, that a lot of riders do hope the median, turn after turn. Cancellera just happened to be more worried about it than others, and wanted to make sure he played it safe than sorry, and luckily for him, it was a safe thing to do. Lance on the other hand just happened to be there. When the wind is strong, there is constant reshuffling that goes on for positions to keep in the first 20 places. The whole row that is sheltered from the wind often moves through towards the front very fast, while a whole row of riders on the other side against the wind moves backwards. If you watch carefully, you will notice Lance near the middle or back and once he gets to the sheltered side, you see him riding all the way back to the front as soon as he can. It just so happened that Popovych was making his way back to the front and Lance ws on his wheel, and when the split happened, he was there. This is not to say Cantador was "caught sleeping". See, all the favorites usually kinda stick together, marking and watching each other. The fact that all the GC guys got "caught out" shows you that they just so happened to be making their way back up to the front after the group shuffled them towards the back. This is where the race commentary meant "caught sleeping" in a rhetoric sense.

Originally Posted by totalnewbie
4. This is related to q.2, Once the split was made, what made the 27th rider stayed up front and the 28th rider stayed back? Is there something with staying with other front group that "gains" a rider some energy? versus staying with the 2nd group "drains" the energy out of the riders?
Anyone who was in the second group was "trapped" in the second group. Anyone who "made" the first group was lucky enough to be there, while others (Team Columbia) in the first group were the driving force of why that group was getting away. The first group had "lucky passengers" (Lance and yellow jersey) and protagonists (Team Columbia) while the second group had "stupid time" riders (people who lost time because they didnt make the split and should have been in front), "workers" (those team mates with GC contenders caught out trying to claw the gap down) and "weak passengers" (riders who are just tired and trying to survive.

Now, lastly, the "gap" opened, because Team Columbia "shafted" the bunch. This means they made an echelon only wide enough so that there can only be about 11 riders sheltered (their team plus a few passengers) and put the rest of the field "into the gutter". Tam Columbia then put the speed way up to string out the bunch. The riders "in the gutter" where basically burning their legs, hanging onto the wheel in front of them, WITHOUT drafting benefits, because remember, its a cross wind. So once ONE rider let a gap open between wheels, everyone behind that rider "got trapped" in that group, because its just so hard to ride across that small gap to the first group that was starting to ride away.

Hope this all makes sense. Also, you have to have raced to understand some of this. Coz some of it is psychological as well.
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