PT wrote:
In the post race interview he readily admitted that it was a case of raced it not paced it and it didn't pay off. .
It didn't really seem to pay off in 2010, either - see Fig. 5:
http://www.trainingandracingwithapowermeter.com/...-pursuit-part-3.html FWIW, my wife made the same mistake (i.e., going out too hard) in qualifying at nationals in 2002, and ended up with the 3rd fastest time. Fortunately for her, though, back then they still had a semi-final round, so she was able to correct her approach and went on to win (although she had to go beat the then-UCI #1 and eventual World's 8th place finisher to do so).
All of which leads to Coggan's #1 rule of pursuiting:
1. Don't go out too hard.
2. Don't go out too hard!
3. DON'T GO OUT TOO HARD!