There is this kid on my team that's the same age as me. We usually race for positions 2-4 in most races, and if I have a good race I'll take him, but since I'm inconsistent (if I have a bad swim I'll usually have a bad race) I usually come in a few seconds after him.

I'm a better swimmer (by about 15 seconds for 400m), he's a better runner (when we ran a 4.5k race he went 16:50 and I went 17:05), and on a flat TT we're pretty much the same.

The thing is, whenever the road rises, even if I'm infront of him, a few seconds later he'll be 5 meters up the road. I'm pretty baffled here, and the only explantion I could come up with is that he's lighter (a lot lighter). I weight between 61-65 kgs, and he usually stays at around 52-53 kgs yearround. I think we're the same height (178 cm).

Does anyone have any solution on how to beat this problem? My next two races are pretty hilly, and I really want to be able to perform well (read: get 2nd).

Finally my inconsistensy problem lies in the fact I seem to always pick a shitty starting spot for the swim, then get pinched/punched/kicked/whatever and miss the front draft pack. I'm not a (very haha) violent person, so I don't like to really hit back, but starting with some 'force' is the only solution I could come up with.