Originally Posted by
ridethecliche
I will say that 270-280W isn't enough for a break.
That was almost 4 w/kg for me and I couldn't even keep up with the lead group in the road races that I did.
I agree. My FTP is basically 4.1w/kg and I can't sustain a solo break. But WR's scenario is more likely to be successful for wattage outputs in this range. Creating a break and getting guys serious about maintaining the break are possible with this kind of wattage. I've witnessed Ex going OTF front from the gun and hold a large advantage for 2/3rds of a race. This is more of TT effort, I've also witnessed him hitting the field until a break of 2-5 guys gets OTF. So yes he has multiple skill sets
...The problem that I see in lower cats is that if someone tries to establish a break he's racing against the entire field. Heck I've seen a guy go off the front in a cat 4 race, a few guys start to chase then even his teammates help bring him back. There are little to no team tactics that would help a rider establish a break. So unless you have an enormous amount of power it's really difficult to get away (cat 3 races are marginally better in this respect). The masters races are far more tactical, the majority of the riders are cat 1/2's and the teams ride to get results not just for individual success.