Beating wheel sitters in short crit

Nicko71

I have been racing a weekend crit for a while now, after just entering the sport of cycling from a big triathlon base fitness. I have been training hard and feel stronger than most of the riders I race against. The crit is 40 minutes or so and I love it, but I am really frustrated by guys who I think have average fitness but sit in the bunch and enjoy the glory of winning the sprint without doing any real sustained work.

Its a club race where guys race as individuals not as teams. I'd love to smash the bludgers, but how? Is there a good way to go the solo breakaway? How do you get a couple of riders to go a break with you? How hard can you hit the bunch on your own?

CycleSteve

What's wrong with sitting in? It's a tactic, like any other move in a crit. The problem isn't them not "pulling their own weight," it's you pulling more than you should. If no one will take the front and you're stuck there, slow down. Way down. But be ready to latch onto the wheel of the first guy who gets impatient and pulls by. That's what crits are -- a psychological game. And let's say you set up a breakaway with a couple of other riders. You gonna have a discussion about what's fair pulling? Nope. You're working together but anyone of you is free to break from that group at any time. And one of you is going to win and get to stand alone on the podium, and you can sure bet that one won't call the other two of you up to share the medal. (But he might split his winnings, if you agreed to that.) As long as you don't actively block (as opposed to passive blocking) and don't physically impair somebody else, it's fair. And remember, crits are not about the clock or about fitness, but are about who gets across the finish line first. Which is about tactics.

Nicko71

A very fair reply indeed Steve. What you say is quite true. I guess coming from a triathlon background my perspective is a little tainted. In Triathlon drafting was frowned upon, now the opposite is somewhat true. Somehow though I think I wouldnt feel as satisfied by sitting at the back, then cruising through to win. MAybe I'll try this next week and see how I feel about it????

What would really satisfy me would be to win with a break. Next Saturday I have 2 mates coming to race with me. Whats the best way to attack with a group of three in a crit?

Shabby

Triathletes who turn to cycling always attack form the front. This almost never works. Attack from the middle, and jump away as fast as you can. Don;t wear matching jerseys, as that's kinda obvious when three similar jerseys go off the front.

You're not trying out time trial them, you're trying to get a big enough break early on which causes everyone to give up. This requires a big gap, followed by some extremely hard work, followed by some suffering and hanging on until the death (of course you'll be left out to dry, but that's all patr of the learning experoience). A bunch can easily chase down 3 riders at any time, it just has to want to. If you are consistently maintaing a 100m break, sit up. Any sprinter can jump across 100m within a single lap unless you're avergaing 50.

The reason you think you wouldn't feel as satisfied by sitting on is because you've won a bunch sprint. You still have to work hard to win. Once you're there, it's not hard to finish top 20, but top 3 is hard.

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patch70

Agree with Steve. If you want to break away, don't try too early unless you are much stronger than the others. Wait till the second half, or even in the last 3 - 4 kms before the speed rises sufficiently that it is hard to get away on your own.
If there are tight corners and various categories on the road, maybe try to break away before the corner when a lower cat group is ahead of you so that you can put that other cat between you and your group by the time you get to the corner.

SCOOBA STEVE

sounds like you need to sit on the back for a change and try your luck in the sprint. Thats what its all about

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CycleSteve

Nicko, I'd suggest first practicing doing rotations with your 2 mates - what's the top speed you 3 can maintain, how do you want to rotate, how often. And not wearing the same jerseys is a good idea. The 3 of you should stay somewhere in the top 1/4. Then make your move. One good place to make a move is just before the crest of a hill. Everybody's slowing down and looking forward to the end of the hill when they can rest their legs a bit. Sure everyone speeds up on the downside, but if you 3 really crank it up and immediately get into your rotation, you'll catch the others when they're recovering. In a few seconds you'll have a 10m gap, something you can work with.

lazysegall

There is a lot of good advice here, but maybe crits are not your thing coming from a triathalon background. I mean obviously, you need to do some drafting in any race and don;t avoid it, but going on breaks in a short crit might be hard. I would think that you probably have very good cardio strength and might want to take advantage of that in another sort of race.

Nicko71

Thanks for all your great advice!!

The crit course we use has a 800m slight upwards push, followed by about 300m of a fairly moderate hill. This is immediately followed by a sharp corner and then a long 1.8km straight which is basically flat or slightly downhill - at the end of this straight is another sharp turn and you're back to the start again.

If we attack, the crest of the hill probably won't work because the turn at the top will hold up our break wont it?? I thought the begining of the upwards push would work well, then really push that last 300m to establish the break. At least if we attack this way we sting the others legs too as they will also have to climb hard??

Another question I have is whether a top speed sprint can be achieved in the saddle?? I feel more in control on the seat??

lazysegall

No. It might be your top speed as you simply don;t feel comfortable any other way, but sprinting in the saddle is just not going to work.

Nicko71

Learnt another great lesson about crits, they are very very unpredictable!! Tactics have to be planned based on the type of race you are in - relative to your own ability!!

This week some A graders raced B grade, and upped the tempo enormously. We are usually lapped by the A graders, this time they didnt even get within site of us. I tried my usual attempts at attacking off the front. Had nothing for the sprint, but felt satisfied I had raced aggressively. This probably would have been a good race for me to hide in the bunch, and just mark the breakaways!!

Damn its hard to pick when a breakaway is a serious threat!! Especially when guys are competing out of category!! I thought this would be a week I would do well, unfortunately I see I still have many lessons to learn. still finished in front 10, but further back than before.

Next week is a bigger race, a lot of "out of category" racing apparently, definately aweek to join the "wheel sitters"

lazysegall

Trying to join every breakaway is not going to be a sucessful strategy in the long run. You need to pick your spots even if that means that you miss a few winning breaks. A good example would be the olympic road race or a Worlds. Good riders sometimes miss out on the decisive break, but if they had stayed at the front for every break then they wouldn;t have had enough energy to even suceed in the break.

shaneo

Nicko

you are relatively new to cycle racing.....you know you are strong (from triathlon) and yes you are fitter than those guys with the big sprint at the end......you know it and so do they....that is why they let you drive the race and tear holes in yourself....and when the bell rings they line up behind you and do their first turn ten metres before the finish line.......doesn't it make you sick!!!!!!

what you need to do in this sortof negative racing is hold back your energy......because lets face it.....if all they are going to do is sprint you in the last lap....why bother killing yourself......you might as well wait until you are two laps out.....sit up the back with a mate and hit them like a ton of bricks.....get on your mates wheel and get him to empty himself and get you as far up the road....when he starts to die.....go over the top of him and destroy yourself until the finish line......if you do it right .....you might come first......if you dont make it to the line.....I can promise you that you have just upset a few of the sit on sprinters....and maybe changed the course of the race.......

one other thing.....when you go to attack like this, try and do it when;
(1) someone else has just attacked and the bunch is just pulling them back, or
(2) when you notice a couple of the top sprinters out of position (ie boxed in) and it will be harder for them to cover your attack
(3) try not to be the first to bomb the bunch....as they usually cover the first few attacks as a group.....once people get tired, then only the form riders (who know they can win) will start covering breaks.....the general populace go's into survival mode and dreams of the bunch kick

never attack from the front....and if you attack hasn't worked....sit up and get your mate to lead you out in the bunch gallop....

no harm in trying.....and remember the way this works is to surprise the bunch.....so sit in and look lame before letting rip!!!!

__________________
Shaneo
Cannondale caad7 (2003)
Cannondale caad5 (2000)
Cannondale caad3 (1998)
Kojima Condor (1996)

blip

I fully agree with Shaneo in his tactics. So much of racing is in your head. Always look around you and see what is happening, who is struggling, which sprinter is sitting in and waiting. A triathlete guy will not win a sprint as they have loads of power and endurance but not as much speed as a road sprinter. My advice for you nicko is to get the other guys to play to your strengths which is high power sustained racing. The sprinters will have to chase you down and it will lessen their sprint power at the end if they do catch you.
Always attack from at least 3 wheels back, when you jump go wide and really hammer it. The going wide makes it harder for someone to catch your wheel.

The tactics you should adopt are:
Attack
If that fails
Attack
and as a last resort
Attack!

good luck