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how to win a team TT?

andywood

Maximum Pace
Apr 8, 2008
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After the great ideas on how to win at Uchinada, I thought I'd ask the same question about the team TT.

Same course, flat, technical with some tight corners, 2 laps, 26 km in total.

We are 4 riders of similar strength. The top teams such as "Silbest" specialize in this event and will be training specifically for it. We have just one chance to ride together this Saturday morning.

Any ideas or tips much appreciated!

Andy

www.jyonnobitime.com/time
 
I shoulda brought back 4 TT frames for you! But riding close hauled does require some training - but I can give you one tip that was given me. Tip 1: Look at the rider's front wheel in front of you rather than his rear wheel . If you can focus your gaze just slightly farther than 'normal' you have better depth perception and will be able to hold a closer group with less stress. Tip 2: Don't overpull. Run your team at FPT, but be careful to overpull anyone so you don't end up with a LAT saturated team and roll off suddenly in the last few km. You want to be able to build pace evenly throughout the course and eventually end up with all 4 riders at full LAT by the time you cross the line. Optimum would be just over the hump - so that , quite literally none of you has anything left in the tank. During the run, monitor closely so if any rider is having difficulty, you need to shorten his pulls. Remember - its a team event!

Oh - yeah, depending the wind , terrain and rider conditions, you may want to use a 2X formation as opposed to a 1X. 2X formation will generally be faster through a more technical course and also favor cross winds better. Also - if you have a large team (5 or more), you want to run a double paceline as generally the time is based on the 4th or 5th rider - and you don't want that rider at the back of a long train!
 
Communication:
The two weakest riders have to make it known if they are going to blow out and get dropped.

Speed from behind or speed in front...you need to know what is best for the team. Experiment... Speed from behind means the person in front doesn't have to worry about going too fast. There will always be a wheel coming up the side. Rotate often.

When you pull off, don't take a rest but keep the speed up. Better to be constant than fast/slow/fast/slow... If you slow down as you peel off you're only going to be struggling to jump back on the end again. Keep the speed...keep pedalling.

The weakest riders may need to rest. Let them be gate keepers and squeeze in in front of them not behind them...especially if they are letting a gap between the wheels in front of them develop. Force them to work hard at the end of the race not the start.

If you only need 3 to cross the line decide who will do the last all out pull before they die off. Hopefully you'll still have all the riders together near the finish line. No point breaking away...

Have in mind the necessary average speed to win and keep your eye on your average speed... You need to be always a little bit faster than that goal to achieve it. Usually previous years results are still online somewhere...
:confused:
 
Edogawa - you made a very important point. Keeping the speed constant and increasing! Too often in a TT paceline the front rider will pull past his worth, then sluff off on the overtake and then be in a catchup position which generally forces the overall line speed down. It's the classic 'riding to your lowest level' formula. Its much better to have enough in the tank so when you peel off the group - you can keep pace and slide into the slot without sluffing. And the next person in line should be positioned to actually acclerate slightly as you peel off. Always force the pace - don't sluff it!

And your other very good point - KNOW YOUR SPLITS. Keep the averages high as you can and watch the splits carefully. If you feel in form, then push the splits progressively higher pace. If the rules do allow for bailout members, use them wisely.
 
Tell the other riders to leave the "EGO" at home. If they are starting to blow get off the front... if they rotate to the front and still can't maintain the pace then they need to rotate out and back again until they are recovered.

The EGO factor looses more Team TT's than anything else and that includes the Pro Peloton as well. It's covered in the brilliant book by Laurent Figon
 
James funny that, I was just reading that bit in the bath last night! A great read isn't it?

Thanks for the advice guys. Put quite a bit of it to test today. Went really well. Report on the blog.

All good friends and no egos to speak of so hopefully we can get a good result next week.

Thanks again for the advice.

Andy

www.jyonnobitime.com/time
 
Hope the training went well, and thus, I think this might be a bit late for you, but if wind is a problem (from what JDD said on the other thread), it might be worth working on peeling off on both sides, so that in the race you can use the one that offers the most protection to the person starting the next pull from the crosswinds. If the course is a loop, then obviously (as the direction of the crosswinds will change) you need to practice changing the direction of the pull-off whilst riding. Of course, this needs a clear signal that the change is about to come.
 
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