Originally Posted by Keith99

Physically mainly draft. Some people forget there is often wind in the mountians (and elsewhere). If yo are really toast both your mind and body are not working. If you have a really good teammate he can set a nice steady pace where all you see is his back wheel and you blindly follow it.

In the 1998 Tour Ulrich might have won if Riis was closer. Jan lost MORE than Pantani's total winning margin on one stage, he cracked and was alone. Dropped tons of time until Riis caught up and dragged him to the finish.

In hte earlier parts of climbs having a teammate (who can help) gives you more choices even on defense. If someone attacks you have the choice of spending a burst of energy to catch them or sitting on your teammates wheel to come back more slowly.