Sorry to say, but in my 25 years of being a cyclist, I've never seen or heard of such a book. But ask another question? Is there a book out the that gives away all the football strategy? The strategy is to win the race, and with so many variables that can accure in the peleton, there really isn't any set strategy other than to protect your leader and keep him fresh until the end.

If you could be more specific, I could answer just about any question on this topic.

The USCF club coaches manual has sections on road race strategy. It is the training manual you would buy if you were trying to be a certified coach.

Fortunately it only costs $25. Available from the USA cycling coaches webpage.

Just a quick look at amazon and found these. Maybe someone could give an opinion on one of them.

Bicycling Magazine's Complete Book of Road Cycling Skills: Your Guide to Riding Faster, Stronger, Longer, and Safer

Bike racing 101 by Kendra Wenzel

The Ultimate Ride by Chris Carmichael, Jim Rutberg

The cyclist's training bible by Joe Friel

Serious cycling by Ed Burke

The rider by Tim Krabbe

Cyclo-cross Training and Technique by Simon Burney

I hope this helps you some

jaretj

I have to agree with Dan yet I know there are books out their.

Do you have kids? I think bike racing strategy is kind of like getting through a day with a 1 1/2 year old you can make a plan but it might get all blown out of the door along with plan B and C. Then some days that 1 1/2 year old is the perfect angel and the first plan goes smooth as silk. The bigger your engine and the teams engine the easier it is to pull off the plan.

I have the first one on your list. While it is a useful book for a newbie, it doesn't have much on the topic this guy is asking about.

I have an old book that's called '600 Tips for Bettter Bicycling" by Bicycling Magazine

great book, has lots of niftfy things (althought it is a bit outdated)

"Bicycle Road Racing: The Complete Program for Training and Competition" by Eddie Borysewicz has been raved about on this site before (Tom D.?). It's not in print anymore, but used copies can be had on Amazon.

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Dave in WI
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"What you once were isn't what you want to be anymore" - Wilco

I have Serious Cycling - lots of technical for personal training and efficiency, but little to nothing on racing tactics and strategies. I can not recommend it for vidaeboa.

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put the mettle to the pedal

Try "Greg LeMond's Complete Book of Cycling" by GL and Kent Gordis. I may have messed up the title because the book is at home and I'm at work. The second ed was published in '90 or '91. It has a whole chapter devoted to strategy/tactics. I'll post the publisher info and ISBN tomorrow.



Brett

The only easy day was yesterday...

Carl Cantrell used to have some good articles on his web site. Now they're collected in an e-book. I don't agere with much of what he says about training, but he has some good insight into tactics. If you read his analysis of the Tour de France stages you'll get some primer on tactics and see Cantrell's overall approach.

http://www.coachcarl.com

Francois had some pretty good posts about his racing strategies, but I think they were on the old forum. You might e-mail him directly. Something about attacking from the gun every time and either winning (lower Cats) or being left to cook until the last second (Elite).

Got him to elite level in France, anyway, and hilarious to read if you can find the original posts.

I think that Eddy B's book is the best I have read on the subject. He has some great insights into preventing saddle sores too...The Greg LeMond book is okay, and so is the book that Bernard Hinault wrote, I think it is called "Hinault" and it has a chapter on "How I made Greg LeMond Tougher..." (heh heh) (The bit about the book is serious, the bit about the chapter is not, but knowing Hinault's reputation, you had to think twice, didn't you?). For the most part, there are no real resources out there that can adequately prepare a rider for the realities of road racing except maybe a really competent coach and quite a few race experiences. To quote Andy Hampsten "success in bicycle racing is 90% about stuff not going wrong." (or something like that).

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"Maybe you should just run faster..." TM

<EOM>

They hand out the awards at the finishline. Sounds pretty simple, but all the plans are the same be the freshest one with 200meters to go and sprint like hell. G

thanks for all your input. however, maybe i should rephrase my original question.

I'M NOT A ROAD RACER. even though i might try some races, i don't even know how to draft yet. however, i do love watching and reading about professional races. the tour, the vuelta, hamilton, etc. i want to understand what is going through a rider's mind, and through a coach's, during the race, during attacks, etc.

so if anyone can answer one or more of these individual questions, or direct me to literature that can, that'd be totally sweet:

• how do riders in an attack organize a paceline?
• how do teams set up their sprinters, other than chasing down attacks?
• what's going on (in terms of communication) when echelons form?
• what's going on in general in terms of inter-team communication?
• how did intra-team communication work before hi-tech gadgetry?
• how do riders prevent opponents from sucking their wheels (like while beltran is towing la up a climb)?
• do riders draft each other on descents?

that sort of thing.

again, thanks for your help.

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http://www.theninjadon.blogspot.com

"The bicycle riders drank much wine, and were burned and browned by the sun. They did not take the race seriously except among themselves." -- Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

In all seriousness, I think you may find what you are looking for through a mentoring program. Not sure where you are, but in Northern California there are several programs just after the beginning of the year that focus on all the topics you mentioned.

thanks, but i'm in ohio

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http://www.theninjadon.blogspot.com

"The bicycle riders drank much wine, and were burned and browned by the sun. They did not take the race seriously except among themselves." -- Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

 Riders that have gotten away share a common goal, to move away from the pack. Occasionally there a few guys in a break that are there not to get away from the pack per say but to monitor ,if the break is to work they will just hang on to the break and hopefully be fresh and win the stage. As far as how to draft, all roadies from Cat 5 up know how how to hang on a wheel so the actual act is second nature.
Setting up a sprinter depends on the resources available. Some times a lone sprinter or bunches of sprinters sit on the top guys wheels. Zabel, Cipo, Steels et all are known to be close every time so if you are right behind them your chances are good. You will see a lot of contact in the last kilo or two to get on the hot sprinters wheel. Anyway if you have a real team, usually three or four guys from your team keep the pace up pretty high from 5-8k out, Then you have one or two set up men lead out the last kilo or so to about 200 meters. Mind you these guys are going really fast and it is damn hard to get around them at all. Then with 150-250 meters depending the course the leadout pulls out and springs the sprinter. Pure sprinters tend to be bigger strong men and their speeds are quite impressive.
Communications vary, but with the radios you can get updates on your heartrate, power output, info on who is up the road, what you want to eat, how your team is doing, and I would guess some cutting up. Aloha G

A teammate has three simple rules for bike racing:
1) keep the rubber side down
2) spin big gears
3) be at the front at the end

Easiest way to learn is get a license and jump in there. That's why there's a progression through the categories. Good luck!

As promised, here is the info on "Greg LeMond's Complete Book of Bicycling" by Gred LeMond and Kent Gordis: A Perigee Book published by The Berkley Publishing Group NY,NY. First ed 1988, 2nd ed 1990.

ISBN: 0-399-51594-1

Brett

The reason you are not getting any real answers to your question, is because the answer is far more complicated than a post on the board could answer. Even if you read books on the subject, you will still need to learn how to apply the information in an actual race.

First off, you must be able to draft and ride comfortably in a group. I have known a number of strong tri athletes who could never get comfortable enough riding in the middle of a pack. You need to find some roadie rides in your area and get some saddle time in a pack. This will also teach you the importance of drafting and even in training rides, you will see some road strategy.

Next, you should find a local road team to join. When selecting a team, ask around and make sure you find a team that actually races as a team. By that I mean that they go into races with a plan (example, Riders A, B, and C will cover early breaks, rider D will attack on the hill with one lap to go, and If it all comes back together we have Riders E rested for the sprint). The biggest hint to how well a team works together, is if they spilt prize money among the team. If my team mate is in a break, and I know he is going to split his winnings with me, then I will sit in and block. If he is not going to split money with me, then I just might help chase down my own team-mate.

You can get by racing unattached in cat 4 and 5, but then there is not a lot of strategy in cat 4-5 races. Once you move up to cat 3, you will need to be on a team, or you are just donating your entry fee to teams. If you find a good team, then they can help you learn racing strategy. Also doing training road races and group rides will help you practice road racing.

Try this site.

http://www.roadbikerider.com/

JA

While I haven't tested much of the advice given in this particular book, it sure *seems* to be reasonable from what I've seen in TDF telecasts. There are six chapters out of nineteen on racing.

Smart Cycling: Successful training and racing for riders of all levels

by Arnie Baker, MD

ISBN 0-684-82243-1

See http://www.arniebakercycling.com/ for info on the author.

Note that I have no relationship with Dr. B, never met him, and have never raced anything other than a triathlon bike leg, on the bike that is.

Tom

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Tom C