Attacks

SLG said:

Hi, i've never been in a race before and i'm thinking of entering one soon, but i just wanted to ask: do most attacks come on flat or uphill sections of the race and what happens when a break is about to lap the pack (in a criterium) - do they overtake or sit at the back?

Thanks

Hi, I bring my ITALIAN experience of amateur races here (and also U23 and Juniores). The attacks always depend on the stress you are able to sustain. If a race is 90 km long, you may launch an attack during the first kilometres, but consider that you'll do 90 km by yourself or with a bunch of people (6-7) - and you MUST go at least at 43-44 km/h, or your attack would be useless. Here in Italy in a flat criterium the most important attackers await for the race to evolve for 40-50 km, and then, when there are still 20-30 km to go, they attack all together or they try to create a "pursuit" group, to rejoin the early-breakaway if any (the early-attackers now will be quite exhausted but will give a hand anyway).

When you attack you must always ask you: am I able to end the race with my companions mantaining my speed? This is the worst option. The best option is that a pursuit group will join you - but take care, they would not be very tired...

Of course: a moment of climb is always more likely a ramp for attackers, but not always (depends on its lenght and %).

Thanks for your reply, very useful info

SLG