K
Kurgan Gringioni
Guest
Dumbasses -
In a 2 up sprint, the basic principle is simple: go from where you
know you can accelerate all the way to the line. If you're still
accelerating in the last meters, it's difficult to come around you
because the guy behind has to match your acceleration and put
something on top of it. By contrast, if the lead rider isn't
accelerating anymore, then all the rear rider has to do is accelerate
into the slipstream, then come out into the wind and go past.
Although the basic principle of accelerating all the way to the line
is simple, calculating when to go is far more complicated. It depends
upon the abilities of the riders in question, how tired they are, how
fast they are going at the moment vs. how far away they are from the
line at the moment. Lotta variables.
Hoste went from 150 meters today. Normally that's not too far out. Fly
in the ointment though. Look at this photo:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/apr07/rvv07/index.php?id=/photos/2007/apr07/rvv07/fs005
It appears as if the entire finishing straight is slightly uphill.
That affects the calculations very significantly. If the finish were
flat, the 150 meters would have been fine for Hoste. But in an uphill,
it's much more difficult to maintain acceleration with gravity working
against you. Ballan got protection in the slipstream and Hoste's
acceleration petered out at the end.
Track racers understand how to ride that sort of finish very well -
it's Match Sprinting 101. Roadies not so much - they don't end up in
that situation so often and usually one of them makes a really dumb
move. Hoste's gotta be bummed. He should've waited another 20 meters
before going. He'll never forget this one.
In a 2 up sprint, the basic principle is simple: go from where you
know you can accelerate all the way to the line. If you're still
accelerating in the last meters, it's difficult to come around you
because the guy behind has to match your acceleration and put
something on top of it. By contrast, if the lead rider isn't
accelerating anymore, then all the rear rider has to do is accelerate
into the slipstream, then come out into the wind and go past.
Although the basic principle of accelerating all the way to the line
is simple, calculating when to go is far more complicated. It depends
upon the abilities of the riders in question, how tired they are, how
fast they are going at the moment vs. how far away they are from the
line at the moment. Lotta variables.
Hoste went from 150 meters today. Normally that's not too far out. Fly
in the ointment though. Look at this photo:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/apr07/rvv07/index.php?id=/photos/2007/apr07/rvv07/fs005
It appears as if the entire finishing straight is slightly uphill.
That affects the calculations very significantly. If the finish were
flat, the 150 meters would have been fine for Hoste. But in an uphill,
it's much more difficult to maintain acceleration with gravity working
against you. Ballan got protection in the slipstream and Hoste's
acceleration petered out at the end.
Track racers understand how to ride that sort of finish very well -
it's Match Sprinting 101. Roadies not so much - they don't end up in
that situation so often and usually one of them makes a really dumb
move. Hoste's gotta be bummed. He should've waited another 20 meters
before going. He'll never forget this one.