Basics - Objectives & strategy

Cycling isn't just about coming first.

Numerous tactics are used in order to achieve race objectives. In a road race, the objective is to be first across the line and, in a stage race, it is to have the lowest overall time. Management of time and energy can prove to be more important that finishing first.

Drafting

If you want to produce the best time, it is vital that you manage your team's energy well. Wind has a major impact on effort and speed, so drafting offers several advantages that can reduce its effect.

A rider who follows another, be it in a relay or in the middle of the peloton, is out of the wind and in a good position, thus allowing a leader to protect himself. By drafting, riders can swap position and take turns against the wind, thus consuming less energy.

Breakaway

When a group of riders "breaks away" from the peloton, they form a small group that can, slowly but surely, move away from the peloton, ride at the front and reduce the number of contenders for victory. In a breakaway, cooperation between riders, by team or ad hoc, is pivotal if the breakaway is to succeed.

Relay

A relay means sharing the effort at the front of the train during short lapses of time. The rider at the front is not protected from the wind and, therefore, tires faster than those positioned behind him. By repeatedly changing the rider at the front, the succession of relays allows each rider to play his part.

Follow a rider to the head of the group (diagram 1 et 2). When he moves aside, it is for your rider to set the pace (diagram 3). When you feel that he has relayed to his max, let him return to the rear of the train (diagram 4) and follow the others until he is, once again, back at the front. And so on...

If you are in the peloton, there are situations where your team must set the pace. We can call it "shouldering the weight of the race". Your team must set the pace of the peloton when:

• one of your riders is wearing the yellow jersey,

• on a flat stage, and your team has one of the best sprinters in the peloton.

In a breakaway, you must actively "keep the breakaway alive", otherwise the other riders will attack to shake off your riders, who will be thought of as "wheelsuckers". This could be a strategy to adopt in order to disorganise a breakaway or to force your opponents to go on the attack.

However, there are situations where these rules do not apply:

• if you have a rider in the breakaway, you don't have to shoulder the weight of the race (unless your team has the yellow jersey and your team member is not the best ranked of the breakaway riders).
• if your rider is in the breakaway, and your team has the yellow jersey, he does not have to relay so that his team-mates, who shoulder the weight of the race, don't have to make up too much of a gap.
• if a team-mate is close, and on the point of catching the group, your rider does not have to relay, so that he catches up with them. However, once the team-mate is part of the breakaway, the rider must cooperate.

Attack

It is important to place an attack at the right moment because attacking consumes much energy and it is best not to waste it.

To increase the effectiveness of an attack, it is best to pick up speed beforehand. The trick is to accelerate towards the head of the group and to place the attack when you reach the 3rd or 2nd rider.

At the start of a stage, if you want to be part of the early breakaway, it is best to follow other riders who attack. First of all, by sitting on their wheels, your riders save some energy. Then, should the peloton react to the attack, your riders can counter-attack and try to break away. Finally, it's best to break away as part of a group rather than alone, because it means consuming less energy, makes protection from the wind a lot easier and it increases the chances of holding off the peloton. However, it's rare that the peloton lets a big group of riders get away.

At the end of a stage, if you think that your riders have a sufficient lead over the peloton for them to hold it off on their own, they could attack and leave their breakaway companions behind. You should therefore check the profile in order to take advantage of any difficulties and land a killer blow. If the final kilometres are flat, your rider must have more than 1 minutes lead at the 10 kilometre marker if he is to have a chance of victory. If there are any climbs, he should have an even greater lead.

Managing the gap

Managing a gap between the peloton and a breakaway is easier on flat or hilly stages because it is less difficult to create a group of riders who will work productively together. In the mountains it is rare for a team to have sufficient riders who are good on the slopes for them to set the tempo for a whole stage. It's possible, but it's not easy.

You must give the "Relay" instruction to several team members so that they share the effort. In order to reduce risks to a minimum, on a flat stage, it is best not to give more than a minute's lead per 10 kilometres of road before the finishing line. For example, at 50 kilometres from the finish, the time gap should be around 5 minutes for there to be any hope of catching the breakaway. This "Chapatte" rule, proven time and again in the final kilometres of a race, is named after the journalist Robert Chapatte, who stated that "If a breakaway rider is to hold off the peloton, he must have, at least, 1 minute's lead at 10 kilometres from the finishing line". However, you must be wary, because the more breakaway riders there are, the more difficult it is to catch them.

Management of time-trials

In order to manage effort, you must keep an eye on the race profile. A rider consumes more energy when climbing than on the flat and consumes hardly any when going downhill. You must therefore be aware of climbs and descents to come to know whether the rider has consumed too much or too little energy.

As a guide, check the distance gauge (yellow bar at the bottom right) as well as your remaining energy. The distance gauge also allows you to anticipate the elevation gain racked up by your riders during the race.

In team time-trials, individual time-trial rules apply. To score a good time, it is essential that you know your riders and that you let time-trial specialists take longer relays than weaker riders.

The team's time being calculated on the 5th rider who passes the finishing line. It is important to finish with your leader amongst the first five.