Getting riders in the breaks in the ardennes classics is usually a waste of manpower, but I've "found" one exception in F-W.
From the start of the race I keep the break at a reasonable distance, 2-3 minutes, and at about 120-90k (when the gap is just around 1 min) from the finish I send my third or second strongest rider to bridge the gap(making sure he's not among the pre-race favourites). He sometimes get two-three riders with him, but it does'nt matter.
The pack will then put the foot of the gas and let
the break get too much of gap (usually 6+, i've even seen 12 min before they've started to chase). Because the break, with my guy and the riders he sometimes bring with him is too strong, once the gap hits 6 min, it is impossible for the bunch to reel them back in, and thus the strongest guy in the break wins. One time I even won with Roche against Kreuziger and Anton, because they spent their power with stupid attacks from way too far out
The thing is, with this tactic, I win ALL the time. I've now tried it six-seven times with a different rider every time, all of them with a mediocre hill stat (76-77) both on hard and extreme.
Although it is not unreasonable that this might happen irl (Aerts won from a late break in 02' f.ex.), that it happens every time is just too unrealistic.
The reason that I call it (slight) faulty gameplay, is that in todays rl ardennes classics, the break never EVER get more than max 3 min in the latter part of the races. It is just too risky.
Kim Andersen of Leopard-Trek called it a rule of thumb to a Danish reporter before Amstel Gold.
I also experencied it in la FW but when i was not in a break, i didnt want to chase the BOTD, so i let the other teams ride and i went away from my pc for 5 min at 8x at suddenly they had 12 min !!
I think this is not just a tactic but a more general flaw in the game.
If you hold a break at 1-2mins to even 50km then stop, the AI usually dont bother to chase on any stage, and the break suddenly gets ahuge gap.
Its happened to me at TDU, Qatar, Langkwai, Paris-Nice, MSR, LBL, Giro, TDF, Vuelta .... loads of races
If you have one of the three race favorites, then the AI will always wait for you to chase before joining in, regardless of stiuation. Example; TDF - Andy was leading Contador by 11secs, Evans by 15secs, Frank by 20secs and Wiggins (me) by 34secs, going into Pinerolo-Galibier.
Contador attacked on the first climb, while i was pace setting.
Because i was pace setting neither LEO or BMC chased and Contador got 7mins by the second climb, 18mins by the base of the final climb.
This tactic also applies to stage races. I won many stages in GTs on difficult with this tactic, and even a couple of Tour de France with underdogs (<78 MO).
The problem is that IA chase breakaways with a rule of thumb: 10km per 1 min. In other words it starts to chase only when GAP / DISTANCE TO FINISH is over 0,1 (5 mins and 50km, 10mins and 100km and so on).
This works when the breakaway riders are tired, but if you send lately in the breakaway a decent rider, he will easily stay away.
This tactic is even more successful on stages ending with a downhill. Going downhill the pack cannot gain much time on the breakaway, however IA is not aware of this and always starts to chase with his rule of thumb, meaning very often that they will not be able to catch the break.
