Something I don't understand about race tactics...
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Something I don't understand about race tactics...
So, I understand the mechanics of a pelaton, drafting, teamwork, etc...
However, after watching a couple of stages of the Vuelta, there is something that I don't get. In the mountain stages, the announcer speaks of two things that don't add up to me. One is when a guy attacks and another team sends a rider up to him to bring him back. Secondly, in a situation where one guy attacks, a team will have one guy pace up the mountain to bridge the gap. I can almost understand the latter as I assume even at a small speed - say 10mph - one can obtain a small advantage by drafting the teammate. However, I absolutely don't understand the former. What, exactly, can a rider do to slow down a guy that has attacked and has a lead?
However, after watching a couple of stages of the Vuelta, there is something that I don't get. In the mountain stages, the announcer speaks of two things that don't add up to me. One is when a guy attacks and another team sends a rider up to him to bring him back. Secondly, in a situation where one guy attacks, a team will have one guy pace up the mountain to bridge the gap. I can almost understand the latter as I assume even at a small speed - say 10mph - one can obtain a small advantage by drafting the teammate. However, I absolutely don't understand the former. What, exactly, can a rider do to slow down a guy that has attacked and has a lead?
#3
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The second rider doesn't slow the leader down. If there are two riders up the road and one is always in front, he is doing significantly more work than the follower. That means it's likely the second rider will come around at some point and get the win thereby negating the efforts of the rider in front. Seeing this, the lead rider is likely to give up working and go back to the peloton to try another attack. If the lead rider is more interested in gaining time for GC than winning the stage, he might keep working even with the other rider sitting on.
#4
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It's not about slowing the guy down, it's about staying in his draft and making him tow you around. If you are attacking and have a guy just sitting on your wheel, it makes it almost impossible for you to win. Your options are 1) to press on and get a hopeful second, or 2) you stop working and come back to the field. Most riders choose the latter because if you choose the former, you only have the one big shot and you only might get second. You might do all the work and get dragged back and not have anything to show for the effort. Worse, you might do all the work bury yourself, and allow the wheel drafter to continue and maybe even have the team leader of the drafter come up to the break.
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"If you’re new enough [to racing] that you would ask such question, then i would hazard a guess that if you just made up a workout that sounded hard to do, and did it, you’d probably get faster." --the tiniest sprinter
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Also, having the "wheel sucker" up the road can be a great help if his team leader or teammate bridges up at some point. He can either drop back a bit to help him bridge, or at least be up front so it's now 2 v. 1
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