filly

Road race tomorrow, 70 miles. Couldn't make the crit today, but my one and only teammate took 1st. He and I will both be racing tomorrow. How should I race in order to not be detrimental to him finishing as high as possible. I know all the basics, such as don't chase if he's in a break, etc. For instance, let's say a couple guys attack, and I'm in position to go with them. Teammate's mid pack and doesn't jump. Should I go with, or would it be better to stay in the pack? And for what reason? I could think of many other scenarios in which I'm not exactly sure would be my best move.

Bottom line, I know the ultimate rule of don't chase your own guy. Common sense. I know I'm only 1 guy, but I want to work for him as much as possible, and I don't want to tilt the odds against him by doing something I shouldn't. On the other hand, I don't just want to sit in the whole time to "play it safe."

Another example: Let's say teammate gets in a break with a few others. They have a good gap on us, and then a couple more guys from the pack try to bridge up. Can I go with, or should I stay back? My senses are telling me if I go, I might drag others since I may make it to the leaders and be able to help my teammate.

Almost seems easier to race unattached. Anyway, thanks for any suggestions.

DrWJODonnell

Ok. Some simple rules.

1) if someone else attacks with you have to decide if the break can survive on its own. If it can, chase them down and either bring the pack with you, or jump in, ride in front of them, and slow them down (blocking) so that the peloton can catch up. If you feel the pack will chase it down, let them do it as your energy will be much better spent providing a leadout.

2) If somone tries to bridge to your teammate in a break, try to decide how strong they are (did they fly away like no ones business, or is it just a bridge attempt that wont survive?). If they are strong, then they can be a danger to your teammate. If so, make a CLEAN bridge to the attacker and block (as per above). If he is not a threat, let him bridge (your mate will beat him in a sprint) and work on slowing the peloton down. In either case, do not drag the peloton with you as that brings the whole peloton to your teammate which is bad.

3) Finally, since you are asking these questions, it is likely a cat 5 race. These usually come down to a pack sprint. The best and most important thing you can do is trust that the peloton will not let a break go (or if they do you have to encourage them to chase) and conserve as much energy as possible. in the last few miles you must move to the top five or so and possibly lead. If your leader is on your wheel, string out the peloton to the point where you start your sprint with about 600 meters to go. When you blow, pull off and let your leader sprint to the win. If you can stay away from leading the peloton, make sure the mate is on the wheel, let him know that you are going early, and at about 600 meters, start with an acceleration of about 5 seconds then jump into a sprint (opposite side of the road from the peloton lead). Your sprinter will be on your wheel, and you go until you pop. Pull off and let him sprint to the win.


Good luck, tell me what happens.

jbhowat

I disagree that a 70mi cat 5 road race will come down to a field sprint, but anyway.


If you see someone try to make a break and your teammate doesn't jump with them, you should cover it if you think it might last. Sometimes the lesser teammate ends up winning because he covered some break that the leader didn't think was important enough. In general he shouldn't waste his energy jumping for every break - thats kinda your job. If you are in a break though - he shouldn't do any work. If he is in a break you shouldn't do anywork.

If he's in a break you can sit in the top 5 or 10 guys who are taking pulls. Stay in the paceline and when you get to the front of the line, soft pedal and start slowing down. You can be obvious about it and SIT UP, or you can act like you are working and stay down in the drops while slowing down. While you are in the paceline, you can do the same thing when you are 2nd or 3rd wheel. Let the first two guys open up a SMALL gap in front of you. That way the whole pack besides those two is going your (slower) speed. Don't let them break away though. You can also "Sweep" which means when you are second wheel and the guy pulling pulls off, you simply stay right on his wheel. This basically cuts a bike-length off of the normal pace-of-advance and will slow the pack slightly. If there are corners that are sharp - be at the front and brake more than needed. It will slow everyone down - just make sure you don't get dropped too far back if they pass you (its likely that they will).

jbhowat

I disagree that a 70mi cat 5 road race will come down to a field sprint, but anyway.


If you see someone try to make a break and your teammate doesn't jump with them, you should cover it if you think it might last. Sometimes the lesser teammate ends up winning because he covered some break that the leader didn't think was important enough. In general he shouldn't waste his energy jumping for every break - thats kinda your job. If you are in a break though - he shouldn't do any work. If he is in a break you shouldn't do anywork.

If he's in a break you can sit in the top 5 or 10 guys who are taking pulls. Stay in the paceline and when you get to the front of the line, soft pedal and start slowing down. You can be obvious about it and SIT UP, or you can act like you are working and stay down in the drops while slowing down. While you are in the paceline, you can do the same thing when you are 2nd or 3rd wheel. Let the first two guys open up a SMALL gap in front of you. That way the whole pack besides those two is going your (slower) speed. Don't let them break away though. You can also "Sweep" which means when you are second wheel and the guy pulling pulls off, you simply stay right on his wheel. This basically cuts a bike-length off of the normal pace-of-advance and will slow the pack slightly. If there are corners that are sharp - be at the front and brake more than needed. It will slow everyone down - just make sure you don't get dropped too far back if they pass you (its likely that they will).

filly

Race went OK. From my post, I know it sounds like a Cat 5 newbie question. This was actually a Cat 1/2/3 RR, and I'm a new 3. I know generally how to ride w/ a team, but I wasn't exactly sure on certain situations. I basically wanted to ensure my teammate stayed in contention as much as possible without tiring himself out too much, and I tried to race accordingly. My teammate's a 1, and it was just him and I. We're not really part of a "team," as we belong to a club, and we're the only ones that race 1/2/3. Being only 1 guy, I knew I could only do so much, and any placing he got was really up to him.

There were about 45 riders, around 20 of us were 3's, the rest 1/2's. I started out near the back, and got towards the front rather quickly. I hung out in front of teammate (we'll call him Bob), and within the first 5 miles, someone attacks. Bob tells me to go, so I go. As hoped, the peloton reacts, and we're all back together. No sooner than we regroup, someone counters. Well, if he wanted me to go the first time, I figured he'd want the same again, so I chase. This time a couple other go, and again, the peloton reacts. All together again. Only 15 minutes in, and I'm sucking wind from covering two attacks. I fall back to take a breather. Sitting 40 riders back, it takes a while to move up front again. I probably sat back there for 20 minutes or so. In that time, I think a couple more folks go off the front. Bob does some covering, along with others, but at some point, a break is established, minus Bob. Lap 1 is over. I'm hurting really bad, covering attacks, not much recovery. Lap 2 is over. Yeah, I truly don't remember what happened during lap 2. A lot of heavy breathing and pain, that's about it. Beginning of lap 3, and the break is still away. Dude goes solo OTF to bridge, and I go with. I latch on, and 2 more follow. After a couple of minutes, I look back and see no sign of the peloton. Should I be doing this, I ask myself? I wasn't really working, mainly because I couldn't. After covering about 5 or 6 breaks, I had burned a lot of my matches, and 2 of the guys in our 4-man were pulling a little too hard for me. We bang a right, and start uphill. 1 guy gets spit out the back, and I'm up next, as the other two creep away. With a decent vantage point at the top o' the hill, I can see the peloton about 20 seconds back. I decide to sit up, while the other dropped dude keeps going at it. Dumb move, I think to myself. Turns out it's not the full peloton, but about 12 dudes. Found out later that Bob attacked something fierce on the same hill and split everyone up. I latch on to the back (barely) as they come flying by me and hang on for dear life. We catch the leaders, and I don't think we went below 27 for the last 10 miles. I just sit in and try to recover. I do somewhat, and work my way back to the front to cover some more attacks. A team of 7 are at the front, and they launch some. Me and a few others mark them and keep us together. With 2 miles to go, a guy from the 7-man team launches a solo flyer. No one reacts, and I couldn't...I was shot and cramping in my right hammie. In fact, I sit up and don't contest the sprint. Bob takes 5th or 6th, and I roll in at the back of the group. The rest of the field came in a while later.

DrWJODonnell

Thanks for the report, and sorry for assuming you were a 5. The only other advice that I could have given youwould not be to jump on the first attack, because the first one is not usually the one that stays away. Still sounds like you did all you could during the race and I would have been happy to have you working for me. Last week I missed the break of 8 guys and so two others and myself had to bridge (3 guys against 8 who already had 30+ seconds is NOT FUN). It took us about ten miles to bridge and when we did, we had lapped the Peloton (short 1 mile course). The average speed was around 28 and I don't know where I found it in me, but still managed to contest the sprint for 4th overall (even though one of the original 8 was up the road on another solo breakaway). I guess I say that to iterate that you do NOT want to miss the winning break. If you do, it can be brutal. Nice job.