I'm watching this from Paris and I've always wondered who has the advantage when they play the cat and mouse games at the start at walking pace. Has anyone just gone for broke from the start. If someone like Wiggins went for it from the start in TT mode are these guys that fast that he would get swallowed up. Apologies in advance for my lack of knowledge.
Men's Sprint question
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deptfordmarmoset
Full time tea drinker
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I've seen it done but it only works as a surprise tactic. I think Hoy did it in a big race once. Was it against Baugé?
zizou
Veteran
Forstemann once beat Hoy going right from the gun. At the elite level for it to work the rider would need to take the other one by surprise - at a major championships a rider might be able to use this tactic once in their career in a medal race, after that their opposition would be wary of it happening again.
As for the advantage riding behind - the rider behind has the draft but in terms of the cat and mouse bit at the start then the draft isnt at play, the key thing here is the element of surprise and the rider behind has a bigger chance of using that (because they can see what the rider in front is doing, whereas the rider in front has to look back). There are a couple of options - waiting behind the rider in front as they open up the sprint (and then getting the benefit of the draft as the speed increases) or surprising the opposition and getting the jump meaning you can get a gap as they try and wind up their gear. That is it simplified though it's more dynamic than that and depends on the different strengths of each rider - some will have a better jump / acceleration than others, some will have a higher top speed, some will be able to sustain their top speed for longer (etc), their positioning, the track being raced at and so on all have an impact too.
Wiggins wouldnt have a chance against track sprinters even if he went from the start - the track sprinters are very specialist at what they do and part of that specialism is the start of a race - the power and torque they produce is quite unlike anything a road cyclist can do. If the effort needed was to last much more than a minute then it would start be a different story though!
ColinJ
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Having just seen a UCI jobsworth in action in the women's keirin in Paris, one would have thought that they would have had something to say about that shove!
oldroadman
Veteran
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On another thread, I just explained, sometimes you get caught, sometimes you don't. Anyone who sees UCI commissaires (who go through a murderous course and have to have years of experience before even getting considered) as jobsworths really ought to have a think what the sport would be like without officials ready to make the hard calls. Still recognising human frailty and that mistakes can happen.
gds58
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I'm pretty sure it was Jason Kenny against Bauge who went for an early one and caught him napping!! It would be interesting to see what would happen if a good pursuiter like Wiggins etc just went for it full tilt from the off. I'm not sure it's quite long enough for them to make it stick though.
deptfordmarmoset
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Aha, yes, that rings a bell. Thanks.