[Kman07]

Hi

I'm good at time trials & climbing hills, but need some advice on how to close down a break, without dragging the rest of the field up with me.
What kind of training tips does anyone have.

Thanks Kramer

 

[krishna]

sprint

the trick is to start your wind up at about 10th position & sprint hard for 20 sec or so - so you create the gap. Then settle into a nice chasing rhythm. What you'll have done is take the pack leaders by suprise, plus they'll have to decide whether to expand the energy to close.

 

[D Funk]

Are you talking about bridging up to a break or closing it down. If the intention is to close it down you want to drag the field up to it to keep the race together or give a teammate the opportunity to counter. If you want to bridge up to it then follow Krishna's instructions.

 

[euro-trash]

the trick is to start your wind up at about 10th position & sprint hard for 20 sec or so - so you create the gap. Then settle into a nice chasing rhythm. What you'll have done is take the pack leaders by suprise, plus they'll have to decide whether to expand the energy to close.

This is good advice. A couple of additions: make sure you start in a gear in which you can accelerate. If you jump in too big a gear (a common mistake), it takes too long to get a gap and you'll pull everyone along.
Work on your sprint, that is essentially what you are doing.

 

[bas]

the trick is to start your wind up at about 10th position & sprint hard for 20 sec or so - so you create the gap. Then settle into a nice chasing rhythm. What you'll have done is take the pack leaders by suprise, plus they'll have to decide whether to expand the energy to close.

Go for it up the other side of the road (opposite the race leaders).

 

[bigbill]

Be patient if it is early in a race, early breaks rarely succeed and you will just burn yourself up by doing too much work. If a break gets away with some legit riders and you want to bridge to it, do what the previous post said and sprint away to open a gap and then diesel/time trial onto the back of the break. If you intend to shut down the break by closing them up, be aware that the pack is behind you and you are setting someone up for a classic "catch and attack". To prevent this, fight the urge to relax when you catch the break, keep the pace up to prevent a counter attack. If you catch a break and you are going much faster, they are doomed, just keep going.

 

[fleck]

If the break is more then 100 yards up i'll wait until I see someone else jump. The key here is jump. Force the next person to realize they will have to work to get your wheel. No free ride up. Jump hard and quick. work with the other guy right away to get some distance from the Peloton. Offer him your wheel first so he knows you aren't the whole peloton, otherwise they might hesitate.

 

[tobu]

Don't forget to use terrrain to your advantage. If you are a good climber, go explosively on a hill. If there is a cross wind, attack on the sheltered side (if it's offered). Attack in a technical section, such as before a corner. Or any place that makes chasing difficult.

 

[Kman07]

Bridging a gab

Thanks for the replies Guy's

I'm more interested in bridging a gap, I'm not very good at sprinting but have been practicing during training.
Anyone got any advice what training routines I should be doing.
Usually I try sprinting to bridge the gap, but I tend to run out energy quick, & end up time trialing which drags the rest of the field back on, or I go back into the main bunch.

Cheers Kramer