Criterium Training. what works?

[BullGod]

came 5th last night in a mixed E-1-2 event - 45km covered in one hour in heavy rain. That was fun. I actually made an attack on the last lap and brought 7 riders with me which defined the finish too so I'm happy.

Got another one tonight and tomorrow.....starting to even enjoy them a bit now ;-)

 

[rayhuang]

came 5th last night in a mixed E-1-2 event - 45km covered in one hour in heavy rain. That was fun. I actually made an attack on the last lap and brought 7 riders with me which defined the finish too so I'm happy.

Got another one tonight and tomorrow.....starting to even enjoy them a bit now ;-)

SO-spill the beans. What did it for you?

Ray

 

[WarrenG]

WarrenG is a crit specialist you may want to ask him the question directly? or go to WarrenG #6 & # 10 at www.cyclingforums.com/t338873.html also Training for crits at www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=critspalese .I hoppe that can help you ,if i come across some crit info ,i will send them your way . I would be very carefull about choosing a W/O from some one ,some lak knowledeg and experience? WarrenG would be a best choice. All the best .Musher

Thanks for the compliments, and I guess I have nothing to add to the posts you referenced.

 

[ric_stern/RST]

nope. It goes Elite, 1,2,3 (actually in Holland (E,A,B,C) but it means the same.

Anyway - last night I got 10th place in an E-1-2-3 70km crit so I'm happy. This was a large circuit with no sharp bends so the speed was fairly constant. I had an active start getting in a few breakaways and then with 1 lap to go I jumped on a pros wheel as he went after a group of 7 who had gotten away. Another guy joined us; we couldn't catch the leaders but we did stay away from the main field. averaged 45km/h for the race so it was pretty quick.

I won a euro for coming 10th ;-)

I've not read all the thread, and not sure if you've mentioned this before, but if you're not keen on crits and kermesses, is there a reason you've not gone to another country (i don't think you're Dutch)?

For e.g., when i lived and raced in France, we had a mix of crits (damn fast, but my fastest race ever is still Birkenhead Park Crits, Merseyside, UK with Malcolm Elliott, Tony Doyle, and some other pros), road races on large circuits, and en ligne (place to place), and the prize money was somewhat better (around 150 Euros for a win down to a few Euros for 25th place, and this was '95).

Ric

 

[frenchyge]

Problem isn't usually your own cornering ability-it's that everyone in the pack in front of you jams on the breaks before the corner, so your forced to break.

Agree. It helps a bit if you can anticipate when things are about to slow down in front of you. Instead of chasing all the way to the guy's wheel, take a quick break while he's still 1-2 lengths in front, and absorb the gap/cushion when he slows for the next corner. Rolling up on him during entry really helps you get up to speed on exit, or at least helps minimize the work getting out of the corner.

If you find yourself stuck at the back, consider taking a totally different line through the corner as the guys in front of you, just to help keep that speed smooth. Fall back in line as they're sprinting past you on the straight.

 

[BullGod]

yeah -I'm English. I moved to Holland 5 years ago, and began cycling 4 years ago, so I've only ever ridden seriously here. The last couple of years I've always had this "I hate crits" / "I'm a climber" attitude but recently I've managed to see the appeal of a crit and get a better understanding of how to ride them.


I've learned several important things - 1) don't ride in too heavy a gear as you need to be able to make sudden accelerations 2) try never to brake, if the guys in front slow let your momentum take you up the side of them if possible. 3) if someone opens a gap in front of you - don't hesitate - go around them and close it yourself 3) if you want to move up to the front - and someone else is doing precisely that - jump on their wheel and hitch a ride 4) ditto 3 re. bridging a gap.....

and after last night I can add - 5) don't do too much work on the front in the beginning 6) don't get caught out taking a rest in the pack after 5 when the decisive break gets away. 7) don't get trapped on the inside of the bunch when the best riders go clear.

I think you should also look around to see who the weaker riders are, and who is strong. In a lot of races (especially open entry E-1-2-M) there are a quite a lot of guys who are only interested in wheelsucking to the finish, and will not close gaps or ride on the front. Being flat, you don't need to really be that strong to wheelsuck at 42km/h on a not too technical course and for that reason the field doesn't tend to fragment much. And the weaker riders can get in the way if you want to jump after a departing group. After last night I will stay in front of such guys at all costs.

 

[RapDaddyo]

I've learned several important things

Your comments all relate to race tactics. Have you added crit-specific workouts or changed your training in any way (e.g., more AC work)?

 

[BullGod]

ride hard for 90 minutes with a sprint of varying duration every few minutes. force yourself to sprint again before you recovered from the last one, and then again. You need to make yourself nauseous.
Then when you do a crit - remember the intensity, speeds and frequency of the efforts and try and roughly simulate that in training.

I also do 2x weekly training races at clubs and in those races I try and close every gap, ride on the front often and try and go with every breakaway, often deliberately letting them have 50m before forcing myself to bridge.

 

[BullGod]

On Sunday I fulfilled my year goal of finishing a Cat 1 only Crit. It was 70km, Technical course (6 bends, including 2 "U" bends) but I was never in trouble and came 25th out of 36 finishers....and as we finished in one big group I'm happy.

I learned that if you're having trouble in the corners, don't hang at the back....use the straits to get up towards the front and then if you have a really bad corner you'll end up only nearer the back....not off it. I kept moving up all the time as "insurance"....