so the stage im currently riding is a SUPER flat one with almost no elevation at all anywhere. So it would seem its perfect for a sprint finish and by the looks of it my two sprinters are favourites so the game would seem to agree, BUT several riders have made a great breakaway and are 5-10' up on the peleton. My problem is how is the best way to chase them down? Ive treid leaving it to the other teams but a lot of the time they never seem to get the job done so any tips on how to chase down a breakaway? I.e what settings to put rider or several riders?
Thanks in advance guys im soo gratefull for all your help
1a1n wrote:
so the stage im currently riding is a SUPER flat one with almost no elevation at all anywhere. So it would seem its perfect for a sprint finish and by the looks of it my two sprinters are favourites so the game would seem to agree, BUT several riders have made a great breakaway and are 5-10' up on the peleton. My problem is how is the best way to chase them down? Ive treid leaving it to the other teams but a lot of the time they never seem to get the job done so any tips on how to chase down a breakaway? I.e what settings to put rider or several riders?
Thanks in advance guys im soo gratefull for all your help
start chasing from the beginning, in order to keep the gap tight (no more than 5 minutes). Use your helpers 1 by 1, in ascending order of strenght. Put them one by one with indipendent effort (the dot) or infinite relay at 60% effort or more. When one helper burns out, use the next one.
If you keep the gap tight, the other teams will help you to bridge the gap in the final kilometers. If you leave the break take a good lead, the other teams will give up and it will be hard to chase.
if the breakaway group is very numerous (9+ riders), try to catch 'em immediately. If they are a few, leave them within a decent gap and catch them later in the stage.
If you have the favourites or the leader jersey, then you also have to to the pace. Otherwise the breakaway will be probably successful.
Normally you can say 1min on 10km on flat terrain.
So if the attackers ahve 7min you have to start at least at 70km. But better to send one of your weakest guys on pace with 55% when the gap is 3-4 minutes.
Then they won`t make much more than this and later you send more guys with 65% or maybe the other teams will help you.
If the gap becomes too big (5min 50km e.g. so 50/50) make 70-80%.
You just have to take care that 1min on 10km are still possible.
Short relay on two or more riders. You could even do it with one rider as long as he does not burn the yellow.
The % depends on the gap and the distance to goal.
It is possible to win about one minute per 10 km without killing your riders. But you should start earlier, then you see how much effort you must put in to reduce the gap.
If you make sure that the gap does not get huge (still possible to catch the breakaway), then the other teams will join in later (last third of the race).
Well, the teams controlled by the AI usually only start chasing breakaways in the last 40 km or so (last fourth of the stage), unless you have one of your riders in the breakway group. So I'd say you have basically two alternatives to control the race:
a) get a couple of your riders in front from the start setting a reasonably fast relay pace (50 - 55) and increase it little by little during the stage to keep the breakaway group at a reasonable distance, then let the other teams do the work in the final part of the stage.
b) get one of your riders in the breakaway group withouth collaborating. It will slow them down and eventually break group coordination and will also force the AI teams that are not represented in the breakway to chase earlier. The advantage of this is that your team has a pretty easy time while controlling the race, but of course there is the risk that the breakaway actually works, so you might find yourself without a sprint finish, but still with a chance to win the stage
Hope it helps
"Between me and Eddie Merkcx we have won all the classics. I won the Paris-Tours, he won all the rest"
Nöel Vantyghem
so any tips on how to chase down a breakaway? I.e what settings to put rider or several riders?
im soo gratefull for all your help 
