Race Tactics

[cashy293]

As someone who has never raced before I am struggling to understand the emphasis put on the team tactics regarding the tour in the final week where they say movistar will try to "isolate" Froome to give Quintana an advantage on the climbs.

I presume they mean that they will ride a hard tempo with Quintana protected at the back of the train conserving energy for the final climbs. If this is the case, couldnt Froome just follow suit and stay on Quintana's wheel for pretty much the whole stage thus nullifying and benefitting himself from the "work" that Movistar have done getting Quintana to the base of the climbs?

I have also thought the same logic could apply for Sprint trains..

 

[Heifer73]

Hi

Movistar will be hoping that by riding a hard tempo that RP & GT with get dropped leaving Frommey with no team mates to help him out or protect him especially if he is in trouble.

Sprinters are made for sprinting, not getting up mountains, so get a train to lead them to the end to save their energy for the important part of the race.

Hope this helps

 

[cashy293]

Couldn't he just jump onto the Movistar train and use them as "team mates" rendering the dropping of RP and GT irrelevant?

Similarly, If a sprinter has no lead out, couldn't he just hang onto the back of another teams and use them as his train (on a sprint stage)

 

[Drago]

Race tactics is b******s, bears about as much comparison with reality as the drivel that football coaches talk. Ride faster than your competitors is the way to do it.

 

[Heifer73]

I don't think there is a reason he couldn't if he is conformable riding at the pace set by Movistar and able to tackle the mountains. Movistar will be hoping for Quintana to be up the mountain whilst Froomey is still at the bottom.

GT will want to stay in contention for possible GC.

 

[MisterStan]

Couldn't he just jump onto the Movistar train and use them as "team mates" rendering the dropping of RP and GT irrelevant?

He could but then some of the Movistar riders could 'attack' thereby making Froome need to chase, if they do this a lot, Froome would use a lot of energy and drop off. GT and RP etc are also on hand in case Froome needs a wheel or bike change and the team car is not close by, to get supplies - gels and water etc from the car and of course to chase down attacks.

 

[jazzkat]

Movistars real strength lies with having both Quintana and Valverde. I think they'll keep going for a one/two. Send Valverde up the road, Sky will have to respond. When they have brought him back Quintana will go. This will be an effective war of attrition, I doubt most of the sky team will be able to keep with the GCs which could put Froome in a difficult situation. Movistar seemed to be dabbling with this on one of the recent mountain stages and it seemed to be working. If Berty has a go too it could be tough for Froome not to lose time.
But, what do I know. I just sit in front of the TV and watch it.

 

[siadwell]

Similarly, If a sprinter has no lead out, couldn't he just hang onto the back of another teams and use them as his train (on a sprint stage)

Yes, they do this sometimes, but the danger is they get boxed in. IIRC on stage 7, Cav popped out from Alexander Kristoff's slipstream to win and Sagan also worked his way up without a leadout train to finish third.

 

[Citius]

There are other teams in the race as well as Sky and Movistar...

 

[ayceejay]

There are plans made in advance and there are those able to make it up as they go along.
That famous quote from Fausto Coppi about age and treachery beating youth and enthusiasm is what I am getting at here.
Another quote of his is that since racing is like wrestling a gorilla to win you don't stop when you are tired you stop when the gorilla is tired, or more likely this is when you attack.