Okay, here’s my short list of basic knowledge that it takes to race bikes. There are a ton of things that should come naturally to you when you’re racing a bike. Hopefully you’ve ridden a bike long enough to have most of the skills necessary to control the bike. I’m not going to go into simple things like outside pedal down, weight off your seat in a corner, etc. This is more of a basic race tactic list. And this list is off the top of my head, just the tip of the iceberg of knowledge that you need to be more competitive. There are thousands of more things, which I’m sure I’ll hear about soon.

1) Never be in the front pulling for no reason.

2) Always know which direction that the wind is coming from.

3) Know the course, at least in your mind, before the start and picture where the strategic points, hills and wind direction will occur.

4) Constantly ask yourself if you’re in the right position. If you’re not, get there.

5) Know when to do single pace line and when to ride double echelon.

6) Don’t be shouting at other riders telling them what to do. It just pisses them off and makes them want you not to do well.

7) Nearly never look back for what’s going on behind you. If you really need to know, drift back through the field subtly.

8) Don’t try to show off in races. Races are judged by who crosses the line first.

9) Always observe and rate the guys your racing against. Watching how they pedal, climb, corner, etc.

10) Make sure you know where the finish line is and where you plan to sprint from.

Like I stated above, this is just .1% of the stuff that needs to be going through your mind during a bicycle race. And it needs to be there at all times. Decisions in cycling need to be made instantaneously. And even good decisions can go south on you down the road. But you need to file all those good decisions that went bad away and use them later to make better good decisions. That is one of the things that is so great about the sport, it is a complete morphing, fluid activity at all times. No two races will ever be the same and no outcomes will ever repeat themselves.

If you really want to read about race tactics, I’m sure that this book, written by one of my old Wheaties/Schwinn team mates, Thomas Prehn, has most everything you need to know. I don’t own it, but Thomas is a smart rider, and good writer too, so it is most likely pretty comprehensive. That being said, there is no substitute for on the bike learning through racing.

I saw a few days ago that Oscar Freire is retiring at the end of this season and is hoping to make the Olympic team this summer for Spain, but he thinks it is going to be a challenge because Alejandro Valverde and defending Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez have already qualified. That seemed strangely weird to me since Valverde had not raced a bike in 2 years and had already been selected to ride the Olympics. Forget about his 2 year suspension for whatever. But, I suppose the Olympics is supposed to be a sprinters race and Valverde can sprint pretty well. At least he could 2+ years ago.

So then yesterday, Valverde won the stage of the Tour Down Under, the first Pro Tour race of the year, and is tied on time for first place overall, with only a curcuit race left. So, Jose Ivan Gutierrez, one of Valverde’s team mates states how great the result was and that their team, Movistar, was not going to contest the race and challenge Gerrans for the overall. Here’s the whole article at Cyclingnews.com. Here’s the quote from the article-

Gutierrez concluded with the assessment that Valverde will not contest Gerrans’ leadership during the final criterium in Adelaide on Sunday. “We’re not a sprinters’ team,” said the Spaniard. “In a one-on-one sprint, Alejandro would beat Gerrans, as he would beat Petacchi, Freire, Boonen etc. Probably the only one he wouldn’t beat is Cavendish. But in the middle of 130 riders, it’s mission impossible. GreenEdge has the perfect riders for criterium racing and they’re used to this kind of cycling in Australia. In Europe, we don’t have any. But that’s ok, we’re happy with what we’ve achieved.”

This is completely wrong on lots of levels. For one, if I were the promoters of the race, I would be pissed that it is announced in the media that one of the guys tied for first in GC wasn’t going to race for the win. Nothing discourages spectators and fans more than a race that has been decided before it happens. I know it is not breaking any rules not to try to win a race, but to me it seems chicken shit not to try when you are tied on time going into the last race. Especially a Pro Tour stage race. But, even if Movistar and Valverde have no intention of trying to win, they could tell Gerrans and GreenEdge that, but where is the upside to announcing it to the general public? There is none. Someone needs to sit down with Jose Ivan Gutierrez and tell him to not speak to the media when he is going to say silly stuff that really detracts from the race and from the sport in general. It is just a bad thing all around.

Photo: © Bettini Photo

I guess Alejandro didn’t put his feet up during his last two year time out.