I'm having difficulting getting my sprint train to the front of the peleton in order to actually compete in the final sprint. Here is what's going on...
At about 15 - 12 km out, I pause the game and setup my train, so that I have a strong flat rider (or two) in front, followed by a med/strong sprinter, and then my star sprinter bringing up the rear. I set everyone except lead to 99% (max effort) and lead to 90-95%. Typically my train is in the front bunch several rows back from main lead relay; however, I can't get my train to break through the front of the peleton and create their own path to the finish line. At 6km out, my train is still maintaining their position in the peleton, so I move my lead to 99% and still no noticeable movement to the front. At this point, I start sprinting with my 2nd rider; however, we're just too far back to make a real run at a podium finish.
Is it simply because my lead rider is not able to ride faster than what the peleton is moving, so he just maintains his current position? If I force my lead rider to "attack" will that just burn up the rest of the trains energy?
An option I haven't tried yet, is having my lead rider "follow" a rider in the lead relay; however, that sounds more like a "work around", I'd like my train to break out of the peleton and create their own winning path to the finish line.
Any guidance would be appreciative.
FYI, my lead train rider has a 77 or 78 on flats (Kroon for CSC).
Its my understanding (and I'll let someone correct me if I'm wrong), setting the "following riders" to 99% means that they can work up to 99% if the leader forces them to, since they are following. And my experience shows that this is true, since all my sprinters have full red bars remaining and plenty of yellow when they approach 5-3km.
Edited by StefanG on 13-03-2009 15:34
You are missing the point of the post, my riders are in great condition when it comes time to sprint, so my riders being tired is not a problem. My problem is getting my train thru the peleton, so that they have a clear path to the finish line.
And if you read the original post a little more closely, you'll see that the lead rider was only at 90% at 15-12km, the followes were on 99%; however, they won't ride at 99%, they ride at what's necessary to follow the leader. The leader moved to 99% several km's under 10, but still could not move up in the peleton, even though he had yellow/red bar remaining (and gel consumption).
Edited by StefanG on 13-03-2009 15:44
The leader does have the effort cursor (dot) enabled, so he's set to drive at his own pace, everyone else is following him (not directly him, but one after the other). If I set everyone to effort curse (dot), then there won't be a train anymore.
I don't really use the train all that much, since I don't particularly have a good 2nd best sprinter in the same races as my main sprinter. I'm playing with Rabobank, to give an indication
However, when I do use a train, I usually set up my train by having a similar lineup as you do:
A flat rider (Flecha), followed by a decent sprinter (68-69, Hayman or Lowik), followed by a good sprinter (Brown, 78), followed by the star sprinter (Freire, 82).
But unlike you, who starts at 12-15 km, I usually start around 5. You do need to make preparations, so all of your riders are already riding along with the first 20-30 riders, so they won't have to push your way forward in the last few kilometres. Having your first rider (Flecha, in my case) "keep position" right behind the rotation squad pulling the pack forward (for instance, the first 10 riders) won't tire him out too much, while still staying in a good position. I usually set everyone to 80% when we enter the last 12km, so they will be able to keep their position.
If you start moving out at 12-15 km before the finish, you'd better have a Time Trial star doing so, because any flat rider without TT skills will lose speed after a few km. Therefore, a good flat rider without TT skills will never be able to move away from the pack if you put him in front too early. So 5-6 km before the end is just enough to burn him up before the sprint. By then the front riders of the pack are getting tired as well because they have already given their all and it will be easier to move forward.
5-6 km from the finish line
Once you get to the last 5-6 km, set your flat rider to 99 and put him on the dot. He'll be able to do so for around 2-3 km, then he's useless because he will simply lose speed, regardless of how much yellow/red bar he has.
3 km from the finish line
Once you get to the 3rd km, he'll either have a little distance from the pack, or he'll have lead your train up to the front of the pack. It doesn't matter if you still haven't put any distance to the leaders of the pack, because once you reach the 3km threshold, you can start the sprint with the decent sprinter. Make sure you set them to 99% when you start doing so.
nifty trick
This is a nifty trick because once you start sprinting, often all the other trains start sprinting as well, so if they're behind you, you'll tire out their trains because they start from further than yours and have to cross the distance to you first. In the best position, their star sprinter will have to cover a few more meters in order to reach your star sprinter.
2nd km before the finish
When you get to the 2nd km, move aside your decent sprinter (Lowik/Hayman in my case) and push forward with your 2nd good sprinter. He'll be able to take you to the last km, where you can overtake him with your star sprinter.
Tiring out sprinters
A sprinter shouldn't sprint for longer than 1 km, because he'll simply tire out from being in the lead. You'll notice if you try the other way around; let your star sprinter do the last 2 km sprint and overtake him with your 2nd best sprinter. 9 out of 10 times he can either overtake him in the last few meters, or he'll be close to doing that.
That's why it's important to start the sprint at 3km, so any trains shorter than 3 will end up with their leader in front before the last km. They might gain on you, but you'll have a fresh star sprinter while they are already wondering when the sprint ends.
Bottom Line
To me it sounds like you simply start from too far away. Even a good flat rider like Kroon can't keep the pace for longer than 2-3 km. Making him do the work for this long simply renders him useless by the time when you do need him. So it's not really a surprise that he can't move out of the pack by the time you want him to.
Edited by Gentleman on 15-03-2009 10:32
