[b987654]

I was watching the end of the tour of flanders. Boonen and HOSTE slowed and talked back and forth and then they took off. The announcers said it was the "trackstand"
what was this, or mabe is there somewere I could find info about what goes on in races.
Or was HOSTE waiting for goerge as long as he could.
thanks

 

[lancerracer]

In a finishing sprint of a small breakaway, especially against a sprinter like boonen, neither rider wants to go first, because if the rider who didnt go catches it right, he can use the guy who went first as a lead out and over take him...The Reason for the trackstand is just because both riders are slowing down waiting for the other rider to go..

 

[mohair_chair]

I was watching the end of the tour of flanders. Boonen and HOSTE slowed and talked back and forth and then they took off. The announcers said it was the "trackstand"
what was this, or mabe is there somewere I could find info about what goes on in races.
Or was HOSTE waiting for goerge as long as he could.
thanks

A trackstand is when you stop your bike and balance it in place, without getting off. In that race, Boonen and Hoste had almost two minutes on the following group, so they had plenty of time to play tactics. Each wanted the other to take the lead, so they slow down and practically stop, each trying to get the other one to jump. If they slow down enough, they'll end up in a trackstand, or they'll fall over.

 

[Stogaguy]

Figurative usage in this case

Trackstand is a term most associated with match sprinting, a form of track racing. As previously posted the riders stop completely and balance in place trying to force their opponent to take the lead. This is much easier on a banked velodrome riding a fixed gear bike as opposed to a road bike on the street. In the case of the P-R finish, the announcers were using the term “trackstand” more figuratively than literally. However, tactical purpose was the same.

 

[Bianchigirl]

The best example on the road was in the 2000 (?) TdF when Commesso actually came to a standstill within the last kilometre - stage 18 (?)

 

[ultimobici]

The best example on the road was in the 2000 (?) TdF when Commesso actually came to a standstill within the last kilometre - stage 18 (?)

Riding against Vinokourov in 2000 they came to a complete halt in the final kilometre of the stage to Fribourg-En-Brisgau.

 

[Francis Cebedo]

Agree with others and a couple more things to add.

- The added element here is the chasing group is closing in fast. Every second the leaders play tactics risks them getting caught and losing it all. This gets played out very often when there's a breakaway and there's a chase group breathing down their necks. The riders in breakaway want the best possible leadout for the win but they also don't want to get caught by the others. Each rider has to weigh their options based on their goals and their riding abilities. This, I believe is one of the best elements of bike racing.

- In this case, there was a lot of conversation between Boonen and Hoste. What happened is Hoste stopped working with about 1k to go. He was hoping Boonen (being the stronger rider with the most to lose) would lead him out to get the winning sprint. Boonen would have no part of it and did most of the talking. He said something like: "Listen, I'm not going to lead you out to 200 meters and let you go around me. Take your turns pulling or I'm going to slow down too. I'm going to stop if I have to so stop messing around!!".

francois