Watching the peloton - Professional Road Racing thread 2026
- Thread starter Rás Cnoic
- Start date
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
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- USA
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- Carlsbad, CA
How do 2 guys pull a break back, as opposed to the peloton just catching them? Disrupt their cooperation? Wear them down with repeated attacks? Tractor beams?
BlackHand
Well-Known Member
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- USA
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- Western WA
?? Somebody has to lead the peloton. Several teams were taking turns at the front to keep the break within reach but other teams didn't commit. It was basically NSN, Rose Rockets and Lidl Trek with some QuickStep. And Lidl Trek is a split GC/sprint squad so they resorted to using their GC rider (who is a strong time trialist) and their last lead out man.
3rd fastest stage in Giro history - kudos to those four riders for a crazy strong ride.
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Sorry, still not clear on this. So sending 2 guys out front to "pull back the break" is really to pull the peloton forward to catch the break?
stompandgo
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- USA
Of course, I had to step out with Mrs. Stomp for a bit, and missed the finish lap. They neutralized the race to protect the GC riders, but the motors in front of the leaders did not, which kept them away to the finish. The sprint teams are rightly pissed off, but this happens more often that people think. The commissaires don't get everything right all the time. That said, talk about collusion with an Italian rider out front is stupid. This was a mistake, not a planned problem.
stompandgo
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- USA
That's how it went down, but that's not the plan. The idea is to have the two riders from the teams with a stake in the sprint to whip up the chase. The problem was with the front of the field not willing to chase hard. The whole neutralization disaster didn't help. I'll have to watch the replay to figure out the sequence of events before I can clarify further. Maybe someone who saw it live can fill in.
BlackHand
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- USA
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- Western WA
Most of the teams wanted to preserve their own sprint trains and wanted to force other teams to burn their sprint trains in the chase. Great strategy, as long as the peloton actually catches the breakaway.
They really underestimated the breakaway. Once they got onto the city circuit the peloton needed more teams to fully commit. The peloton would gain 10-15 sec and then when someone would peel off the front they would lose 5-10 seconds while everyone waited to see who would take up the chase next.
Meanwhile, the breakaway fully cooperated. The only hesitation was around 1km out, someone failed to come through to the front basically signaling that one of the 2 Malta riders needed to use themselves up leading the other 3 out. They lost 5 seconds of their lead almost instantly in that moment of hesitation.
I didn't notice anything unusual about the moto's in front of the break. I did see Uno-X riders waving off the moto in front of the peloton at least once.
They really underestimated the breakaway. Once they got onto the city circuit the peloton needed more teams to fully commit. The peloton would gain 10-15 sec and then when someone would peel off the front they would lose 5-10 seconds while everyone waited to see who would take up the chase next.
Meanwhile, the breakaway fully cooperated. The only hesitation was around 1km out, someone failed to come through to the front basically signaling that one of the 2 Malta riders needed to use themselves up leading the other 3 out. They lost 5 seconds of their lead almost instantly in that moment of hesitation.
I didn't notice anything unusual about the moto's in front of the break. I did see Uno-X riders waving off the moto in front of the peloton at least once.
stompandgo
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- Region
- USA
After watching the replay from 25km out, I saw no reason to neutralize the GC at the bell, as the course seemed fine. However, I don't think this had any effect on the outcome. The GC riders had almost 10km to get out of the way, which was plenty of time to avoid causing issues.
I think that BlackHand nailed it, there was too much looking around by the field inside of 10km to go, when they still had time to catch them. I saw leadout riders coasting 10 riders back, which means that one guy at the front is hammering and the rest aren't. It has to get wider at the front to get faster. That said, the shot BlackHand posted above shows a reasonable gap between the lead motors and the break. What I saw was nothing like that. They were much closer, clearly giving the break a draft. Commissaire 2 was right behind, and could see this, but took too long to push the motors up. Sometimes this happens on tight downtown circuits, because riders can go faster than the motors in the turns, but this was not the case.
This shot was taken seconds before BlackHand's shot. The motors are way too close. If you think that's perspective, look at the lines on the road, and how many people are on the barriers. They are way too close. I started to notice this on the backside of the course, where the video motor was right in front of them getting the heads-on shot. These things happen in racing. Also notice that Commissaire 2 is behind the break in my shot, and well past the break in BlackHand's. The Commissaire moved themselves along with the unnecessary motors ahead of the race towards the deviation point, as the gap was coming down. They have to do this, where it's wide enough to do so, but that pass of vehicles gives the break a push.
I think that BlackHand nailed it, there was too much looking around by the field inside of 10km to go, when they still had time to catch them. I saw leadout riders coasting 10 riders back, which means that one guy at the front is hammering and the rest aren't. It has to get wider at the front to get faster. That said, the shot BlackHand posted above shows a reasonable gap between the lead motors and the break. What I saw was nothing like that. They were much closer, clearly giving the break a draft. Commissaire 2 was right behind, and could see this, but took too long to push the motors up. Sometimes this happens on tight downtown circuits, because riders can go faster than the motors in the turns, but this was not the case.
This shot was taken seconds before BlackHand's shot. The motors are way too close. If you think that's perspective, look at the lines on the road, and how many people are on the barriers. They are way too close. I started to notice this on the backside of the course, where the video motor was right in front of them getting the heads-on shot. These things happen in racing. Also notice that Commissaire 2 is behind the break in my shot, and well past the break in BlackHand's. The Commissaire moved themselves along with the unnecessary motors ahead of the race towards the deviation point, as the gap was coming down. They have to do this, where it's wide enough to do so, but that pass of vehicles gives the break a push.