Watching the Tour of Flanders last weekend and then some highlights since, I’m fascinated by how some riders can take off alone after gaining what looks to be a relatively small bit of distance over a climb. Two examples would be Pogacar dropping van der Poel this weekend and Cancellara dropping Sagan in 2013. It’s not like they have anyone in front of them to catch their slipstream. Once they gain a few metres on a climb, these guys look unstoppable. What’s happening here?
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Leaving aside any potential “enhancements” that may be taking place behind the scenes, some days you just have another match or two to burn and your riding companion doesn’t. Cycling is nearly as much mental is physical; say these two guys are in their own breakaway – they’re both hurting, and both are pushing just as hard as they have to to hang with the other one. It’s also harder to bridge a gap than it is to stay with someone. So, rider A recognizes that rider B is hurting a lot, but rider A knows they still have some in the tank. They wait till an appropriate time – a kick up in incline, or when their opponent takes a drink of water – and then they make their move, putting a few bike lengths in. Rider B then has to get out of the saddle and sprint to catch up, but if they really don’t have anything left in the tank, they’re not going to make it. And since they were already “just hanging on” with rider A, now they’re discouraged as well because they’re spent. All motivation disappears as rider A disappears into the distance.
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