52
votes
Accepted
How to prevent drafting?
In road racing there are lots of way to try and gain an advantage (or not to give others an advantage). Because this is a friendly race, I will break it down into friendly, indifferent and hostile ...
- 30.5k
27
votes
Accepted
TdF: How does putting one team member in a break away help the rest of the team?
The full answer depends exactly on the teams involved and the composition of the break but, in general, the key to understanding this isn't physics as much as it is game theory.
In a race like the ...
- 13.8k
21
votes
How to prevent drafting?
Let the co-worker pass and then draft behind them. It becomes a game of chicken to see who goes first.
This is partially why road racing at the professional level is usually done in teams. The team ...
- 21.7k
9
votes
Attacking during a race when your competitor has a mechanical failure?
It's just considered to be bad sportsmanship to take advantage of another rider's mechanical problem. The underlying idea is that, as much as possible, the race shouldn't be determined by random ...
- 11.7k
8
votes
Attacking during a race when your competitor has a mechanical failure?
There's also the somewhat nebulous concept of whether or not "the race is on". Basically if you're cruising along in the peloton it would be extremely bad form to suddenly attack out of nowhere when ...
- 681
5
votes
How to prevent drafting?
The best way to make it impossible for him to draft of you is to draft on him instead. You will then probably just end up taking turns. Competitive bike riding is not only about who is the best, but ...
- 151
4
votes
How to prevent drafting?
You can combine strategies from track racing, namely match sprint, and road racing.
In match sprint, the racers typically start very slow in order to not give any drafting advantage. This continues ...
- 21.8k
4
votes
TdF: How does putting one team member in a break away help the rest of the team?
Don't forget that there is money involved! Every competition in the TDF has a cash prize. Every sprint. Every categorized mountain. Often towns along the way will have their own prizes, such as a cow, ...
- 1,168
3
votes
Attacking during a race when your competitor has a mechanical failure?
Cycling is a weird sport because you need to cooperate with your opponents. This leads to all kinds of surprising outcomes, such as choosing not to take advantage of an opponent's mechanical problem. ...
- 29.2k
3
votes
How to prevent drafting?
A weather dependent strategy is available when there is a stiff crosswind.
Your wind shadow (i.e. the place where a drafter would want to ride) is "behind" you from the point of view of the wind you ...
- 4,819
3
votes
Attacking during a race when your competitor has a mechanical failure?
Depends on whom you ask. Ideally there should be surveys to answer questions like this. Surveys for contenders, team leaders, supporters and so on. Just to get a rough idea. It is certainly possible ...
- 1,484
2
votes
How to prevent drafting?
This is apparently an informal race where you can set your own rules. So as suggested by criggie in the comments you might be able to agree a rule against drafting.
In time trials, riders set off at ...
- 532
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