Originally Posted by queerpunk

The question is - when? If it's too early, it's just a pointless attack. It has to be late enough that nobody is going to chase. In cat 3 races I used to attack all the time when the race got down to 4 or 3 riders. This tactic never failed me as a 3. Never tried it in 1/2 races - even the eliminations I won had me sufficiently gassed that I didn't think I could launch an attack to win.

Anyway, here's how it works. The race is at the back. Nobody wants to be the first person to chase. Everybody hesitates. As soon as you have a gap, everybody else realizes that they're fighting for second - literally, right now - and they would have to sacrifice that greatly to give anybody else a chance at 1st.

Nobody wants to chase you down for the people getting a free ride, not with a sprint coming up.

Anyway. I think it's a good tactic. Ask your coach WHY they think it's a bad idea.