Originally Posted by grolby

So jump before the pace eases. If you're trying over and over to get something to stick and it doesn't, you kinda by definition don't have the strength in depth to really threaten the field whenever one of your jerseys is up the road. So many 3/4 teams' attacking ambitions go to the grave on the reality that most teams just don't have enough strong riders to do any damage. So then you hope the other teams will recognize the tactical brilliance of letting one of their guys join move rather than just chasing it back. But of course that tends not to happen. If no one's strong enough to get a threatening gap for long, there's not much incentive to do hard pulls in a break you have good reason to believe is inevitably doomed. I'm not unsympathetic, but it's bike racing. It's not easy, and one of the reasons it's not easy is other people aren't necessarily going to do what you want them to do to shape the race in a way you like.