Welcome to our latest coaching installment from Matt McNamara from Sterling Sports. Today, Matt walks us through how to execute an effective race strategy.

Most of us can recite some standard tactical acumen like putting your team on the front and driving to the finish for a big sprint victory, or getting in the break and then attacking out of it for a prestigious solo victory. What if you don’t have a team? What if you are new to racing and still figuring out how to apex a corner? Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Do Your Homework

The first step in creating a realistic race plan is to understand just what it is that you are facing. Don’t roll up to your next event blind.  Race reconnaissance can be broken into a couple of categories: strategic knowledge and tactical knowledge. Strategic knowledge includes things like your start time, race distance, and course layout. 

With the internet and a variety of cool software and hardware options there is no reason not to know the important details of the course. Strategic knowledge requires some work before the event, but can really pay off once you are at the race site.  Ask teammates for information in the weeks ahead of your event. Search the internet for race reports or GPS files of the race course.

The next step in your pre-race recon is to know the competition. Who won the race last year? Who is riding well in the other races so far this season? Are there any particular teams to watch or follow?  Do breaks stay away or always get caught? Try to imagine different scenarios that might come up and have a plan for each. Have you raced the event before? If so, how did it go? What did you do right?  

Once you get an idea of the competition, the course profile and the demands of each it’s time to take a deeper look at the course. 

Pre Riding!

Pre Ride the course! This simple baseline is all too often ignored by stressed out racers rushing to get ready in time. One of the easiest ways to derail your race is to miss the pre-ride. Ideally you can do a ride or two on the course before the main event. This is especially true for “A” level events where you have higher goals and expectations.  Though this is tough to do for road races, it is well worth the effort if you have never done the race before. Where is the climb? How fast or technical is the descent? Are there areas where you can take advantage?

For criteriums pre-riding is a necessity. Get on the course between categories if possible and give the course a good once over. Look for obstacles or potential hazards. Is there a seam down one side? Bumpy pavement or holes to avoid? Look for the fastest line into or out of corners. If you have the time, watch other categories.  Is it faster to ride an inside or outside line into the final corner? During the pre-ride take a few moments to steel your self to the task at hand. It’s a race, a fight. Be a warrior. Put yourself in the mindset to do well.

The Race
The first race is the one to the line. In most events being on the start line is not THE make or break for the race, but it is the first chance you have to establish yourself in the field and observe.  It is very important to feel a part of the race. Your adrenaline will be pumping anyway so you might as well expend a little at the front rather than fighting in all the corners.  Normally I like to set up on the outside line for the first few corners. It’s a bit easier to keep your speed up and you can move around a bit easier.

Once you’ve established at the front it’s time to do some work to help keep the pace high. A few weekends ago I mentored a group of Category 5’s at large race. It was a fast course with a couple of tricky corners, but I was pleasantly surprised that the racers continued to rotate through and keep the speed high all the way to the finish. Rotating through in the pace-line is one of the most fundamental skills, but one which requires many hours to master. How hard you pull through and the transition off the pull are subtle arts. You’ve likely seen a derivative of this before, but in the interest of awareness, here is the rotation:

Tactically you can use the rotation to your advantage. If you are a solo rider don’t feel obligated to take monster pulls trying to keep the pace high. Instead start floating just off the paceline and watch the other riders. Who looks strong, who looks squirrely? Of course the caveat is that you gotta do your work! Don’t get a reputation as someone who won’t work at the front. Considering the fact that most criteriums are less than 45 – 60 minutes long, If you’ve done the training then you will have the fitness to contribute and still finish well. 

Riding Corners

Without a doubt corners represent the biggest challenge to racers, all racers. Even if you’ve done hundreds of races every corner is it’s own experience. There are a myriad of lines in any corner and, unfortunately, the fastest line is sometimes elusive so you have to be flexible every time. That said let’s look at a couple of stereotypes – the inside and outside lines. 

Inside lines are coveted. They are fast and seem to allow you to maintain position easily. Simply set your wheels inside the rider in front of you and stay smooth. Unfortunately, the ugly cousin to the inside line is diving the corner.

Diving the corner is usually a result of the field slowing and riders surging to get a better position. Said ‘Diver’ will run up the inside line and try to slot back into the field in the nick of time. Sounds easy, except that most  riders simply charge to the corner, grab a handful of brakes, and then have to re-accelerate to maintain the hard fought positions. First, this will almost surely require more energy expenditure to maintain than simply staying smooth. Second, and perhaps more importantly, you will endanger and probably impede the riders around you with that technique.

Instead work on only taking the positions that are safe and open to you. You shouldn’t have to slow down much at all, and a big handful  of brake lever is a clear indication that you’ve mis-judged the line.

Once you have taken that inside line you have to do something with it. Lots of times the inside line will open up on the exit and give you a straight shot at advancing or sprinting for the finish.  Try different approaches to each corner on the course.  Instead of trying to pass ten racers in a single corner take a more measured approach and pick off a rider or two each corner.  Lay back, let some space open and accelerate into and through the corner. This will give you a nice head of steam coming out of the corner. The graphic below illustrates how to gain tactical advantage from the inside.

Then again, the outside line is also a place to make time. Outside lines usually close down if the course runs back to the outside curb, but not before you can pick up a place or two. Again, just lay back a little and carry more speed into and out of the corner.  You have to set these things up throughout the race. Each time is a trial run for the last lap craziness that will surely come.

Finishing It Off

Now that you’ve learned how to get and maintain position in the corners it’s time to put together your finishing push. As a solo rider you have ultimate responsibility for how you approach the finish. You have to be ‘in’ the race and willing to push yourself. You have to be willing to take the chances necessary to win, be that a late break of positioning for the field sprint. You have to be, pardon the phrase, master of your own destiny. The rush is coming, you know the rush is coming. Instead of waiting and hoping take charge, Take the extra pull that keeps the pace high and the hounds at bay. Ride the outsides. Don’t get caught in the middle. Keep rotating forward. Look for riders going to the front  and get a free ride. It’s easy. If you’ve been practicing moving around during the race it’s even easier! The great thing about racing is that there is always another one, another chance to perfect the art, another course that suits, another chance to grab the right wheel, or be the right wheel

About Coach Matt

Matt McNamara is a USA Cycling Level 1 coach with over 20 years of racing, coaching and team management experience. He is currently developing a set of time efficient, cost effective training programs that are delivered via e-mail each day. For more information or to sign up, drop him an email – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or visit the company website www.sterlingwins.com - Sterling Sports Group.

Drop us a line! You can choose how you stay in touch with cyclingnewsasia:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Contact us directly