brent_dube

Why is it that the GC contenders for stage races never try to gain time on flat stages? I know it is hard to do... since if they attack they will easily be chased and whatnot. But I'm sure that they don't all have the same amount of strength/energy! Doesn't something ever have to give? If there was a good attacking group organized with a team by some certain GC contender or two, is there a chance that they could pull off a breakaway? Or does the draft of the peleton just help save riders so much energy that they could pull back any break if they really tried?

I know it is a gamble to do a thing like that, but in cases when a rider knows there is no other way to beat the other guy... 'what have you got to lose?', ya know?

:confused:

I don't really know... I'm a newbie to cycling. But its just a thought about a race strategy, I'm curious.

Could anyone give me any answers or ideas why it is never tried?

RainmanP

It would be almost impossible for a break containing a high GC rider to get away. The race leader's team as well as teams of those close behind the attacker would shut that down immediately. Breaks are only allowed to stay away when members are so far behind they are irrelevant to GC. When you see a break stay away and gain big time gaps it is because they aren't worth chasing. Toward the end the sprinters' teams, on a flat stage, will try to chase them down for the stage win, but if there was a question of GC, the break would never get 30 seconds without being chased down. It just would not be allowed to happen and everyone knows it. Besides which, to win a 3 week tour, a contender has to pick his battles, precisely planning exactly where he is almost certain he can gain time. The rest of the time he stays near the front and does as little work as possible to conserve energy for those few times if very hard effort. Trying to outrun the peloton would be a huge waste of energy. Heras, for instance, knows he is in good form and can gain time on the hardest climbs, but others are stronger on the moderate climbs. He also knows that he is physically incapable of maintaining 60 kph for long distances without wasting his reservers as well as the teams. Even a strong time trialist high on GC who tried a breakaway would be forced to work too hard for the effort to be worthwhile in the long run.

When you see those breaks stay away your question does come to mind. But then you come to realize that the breaks are staying away because they are ALLOWED to stay away. Breaks are almost always pulled back. Even if the peloton underestimates and doesn't quite make it, it is generally only seconds behind. The extreme effort just wouldn't be worth picking up 10-20 seconds. I have kind of rambled on. I hope it makes some sense. It is this sort of thing that makes bike racing so fascinating to watch.

brent_dube

I know most of the times when they keep the break, the peleton isn't trying to catch. And yeah, it isn't smart to waste the energy, but what if you are 1 minute down from the GC leader going into paris for the last TDF stage? Yeah, they would just chase you down, but isn't there ever a shot that you could basically run them out of energy by the end of the stage (if the strategy was done right, and you are in better condition and better suited for that type of stage and everything)? It sounds crazy but isn't it possible at all?

It just seems weird that 100 riders all have the same amount of energy and will finish the same time no matter what, if they try to, on a 200km stage.

fore

no matter how determined a breakaway may be, there are always more people in the peloton, which means more people to distribute the work and do some really hard pulls to bring the breaks back.