Originally Posted by
carpediemracing
The problem is that when people try and get away, they have to get away from someone who's willing to go 38 mph to close a gap. And that's a pretty slow sprint speed, in all seriousness, unless you're going up hill. Think about that for a moment. If you're trying to get away from a sprinter, what are they going to do when you attack? They're going to make an 80% or 90% jump to get on your wheel then sit in. To break a sprinter you have to basically out sprint them.
Yes and no. If the sprinter is so much stronger than me for short efforts, it might not work. But if things are a little closer to even, then I'm going to attack in a planned, strategic manner. I'm going to jump as hard as I can within 100-200m of a course feature, i.e. rise, turn, crosswind section, etc. I am going to juke him and jive him to keep him in the wind as long as possible before nailing that feature and holding it for as long as I can. If he's still there, then I'll try it again or resign myself that it's just not going to happen. But if you break their will to give a long, hard effort, especially when it's not in the waning laps, you can succeed.