Winning Bike Races

To win races you must be prepared to lose. Now this may sound odd, but, one of the biggest mistakes riders make in their races is trying to either force the win early when everyone is fresh and then missing the winning break. Another method I see riders adopt is trying to ride others off their wheel later in the race and getting rolled at the finish. Winning bike races is not about being an honest rider or doing more than the next guy or girl, it’s about winning. To win you offer need to pedal the least, but, when you pedal you pedal the hardest.

Know your competitors, check start lists and check the riders who are going to be up there going for the win. It’s all very well and good going up the road early, but, it’s a waste of time if the riders you are with cannot pedal out of sight on a dark night. All that is likely to happen is they will blow up leave you high and dry with 60km to go. Knowing your competitors is vital, watch them and follow them around rolling onto their wheel as they go across to the break. It’s far easier to accelerate in the slipstream of a rider than it is to try and bridge over to them after they have gone.

The strongest riders do not always win bike races. Be ruthless to win, it’s not about making friends out there in a race and believe me those that say, “oh you’re such a great worker” “such and honest guy that never misses a turn” are those that behind your back rub their hands together and think you’re a perfect rider to be away with because you always smash yourself and enable them to go for the win. That isn’t to say there are times when you need to roll your turns and put in the work to establish a break and get away in a selection, but, think about what you are doing at all times and just miss out rolling through every now and again.

When the break is away and it’s made up of the best riders start to think about how you will win the race. Are you a sprinter and think you have it over the others in the break in the sprint to the line? If this is the case know the course and know when you need to be right up at the front and chose who’s wheel you are going to follow. This is where you need to again be ruthless and be prepared to lose. You cannot follow all the attacks at the end of a race, so, follow the guy that will shut everything down and if he lets a couple of guys go make the decision to chase and get rolled at the finish, or, wait for someone else to close it, but, possibly lose the race.

If you’re a TT’er or climber know when to attack and try to make your move. Again, knowledge of the course is essential, winning against others who are possibly stronger than you means that you are going to have had to sit on and miss a few turns to hopefully be fresher when you do attack to make the gap.

Commit to whatever you do, but, keep your eyes open and look around to see what the others are doing. If it’s obvious that your attack is not going to succeed then sit up and recover and be prepared for the counter attack to come over the top of you.

Choose your races according to your strengths. I see so many riders want to target races that just don’t suit them physiologically. This can be 85kg riders wanting to win the Tour of Bright or a 60kg rider wanting to out sprint the clubs “Sagan in the Crit Champs. All targeting the wrong event does is erode confidence and motivation as you consistently fail to reach your goals and get to throw the arms up in the air.

Make sure you eat and hydrate from the start of a race. Another reason I see so many riders fail to perform and reach goals in races is simply fulling the engine. It’s so easy to get caught up in the race early as breaks are going, attacks are happening and the red mist descends and clouds our judgement. Practice eating and drinking in training to form a habit that will be subconsciously done when it’s going off all around you. There is nothing that frustrates me more as a coach than a rider who is in Optimus Prime condition who forgets to eat and drink and blows up around the 2 – 2.5 hour mark of the race and then fails to finish.