Tactics

Criterium Last Lap Tactics

First you must understand that the last lap is completely different from all other laps in the race. The last lap is anarchy and chaos compared to the nice and orderly previous laps during the criterium.  I will lay out a few strategies that you can use to win.  These strategies are mainly appropriate for [...]

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Conserving Energy in a Criterium

I was reviewing the video from the Master 123 race while I am stuck in a German hotel with no English TV…not even CNN. It was clear to me that I was following a strategy early in the race….conserve energy. I started in the back contrary to my normal advice, but I know this course [...]

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Your First Crit – How to not waste your money

I have been getting a lot of questions about doing a crit for the first time.  Here has been my answer: Criterium racing can be expensive but it can also be very hard on your ego!  First you tell all of your friends and family that you are “bike” racer or that you are going to do [...]

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The break is established, How do you win?

The Break is Established, How do you win? First of all this is not a team time trial because you are trying to achieve  two objectives:  Stay away and win.  Obviously, the problem is that the other guys might or might not have the same objectives.  Once the break has established itself, you need to start thinking [...]

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You are in a break, now what?

Your in a break, now what?  Okay, you are now in a break and the break has a small gap, now what?    You have one task to do when you get into a break:  THINK. Is the break building a gap fast enough?  Is the pack chasing? How many guys are in the break?  Who is [...]

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Criterium Attacking

Do you attack? First you need to have a race strategy.  If your race strategy is to win by sprinting at the end, then don’t attempt a breakaway.  In fact you will want to sit in as much as possible and have your teammates chase down all of the breaks.  If you want to be [...]

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Accordion Effect?

I wanted to further illustrate the accordion effect in a pack and why you should not ride in the back.  For this example, I will assume that this is a CAT 4 pack which might average 25 mph per lap, and the corners are rather tight and technical, i.e. not a sweeping corner. Below you [...]

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How to make a criterium easy?

Criterium Rule #1:  Start on the front row at the start Criterium Rule #2:  Stay in the top 25% of the pack Criterium Rule #3:  If you are not in the top 25%, move your ass up! Here is the reason for the rules.  First, the race does not happen in the back, so if [...]

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Are you pack fill?

Let’s face it, there is only one winner in a criterium but there might be 50+ other racers in the race.  Everyone dropped 25-40 bucks to race so that the top 10 can get the prize money.  In addition, you dropped 1,000 to 3,000+ for your bike, 50+ for your annual license, 200+ for your [...]

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Criterium Courses

 The course that criteriums are run on can make a drastic difference in your performance from race to race.  One weekend you might have no problem hanging in and racing, but then the next weekend you might be suffering the whole time and get dropped.  The more technical the course the hard it will be, and the [...]

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Your First Critierium

There is nothing more exciting than lining up for your first criterium.  The first crit is an interesting experience because you will find out quickly whether you will love crits or had them.  Usually there is no in-between.  I had a great first crit and I have loved racing them for the last 20 years, and I hope that [...]

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