Originally Posted by same time
Even still, let's say Ullrich attacks and Armstrong sends his weakest rider after him. Weak rider sits on Ullrich's wheel and can wait for Armstrong to chase them both down, and then when he does he has a teammate already there - it's two Discovery riders against Ullrich. So, teammates can "drag back" stronger opponents just by letting them know that they are likely to be outnumbered if they continue.
Ah, that makes sense, especially since the guy doing the chasing would just sit back and be much fresher too.
So, from all that was posted, I gather than the lead rider is not actually slowed down by having a single rider behind him.
Thanks.