The peloton is an amazing thing. It has a chaotic predictability to it, the fact that you’re in control of your own bike, yet also absolutely not at the same time. It controls 80% of your movements, and leaves you to play with the other 20%. A sports director’s race briefing is centred around being in the right part of the peloton at the right time, and that is almost always the difference between winning and losing.
A rider can be physiologically capable of winning Milan-San Remo, but if they can’t enter the bottleneck – the entrance to the Cipressa – placed amongst the top-30 riders without expending too much energy, then I’m going to say that it is an impossible task to actually win that race.
The riders that are loved
Key features of this first category of rider include you being chatty, friendly, generous and gracious with your movements in the bunch. You point out potholes and warn other riders and teams during racing; you let riders into or across your team’s line when they ask or need, and you basically go out of your way to help competitors and congratulate them if they do well, even if it’s to the detriment of your own team.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that this creates a perception of you not actually being competitive in a fundamentally competitive environment, but there is a good reason for this, which I’ll get to. You do need to be a reliable wheel to follow, you don’t crash, and you don’t get dropped in an echelon, a steady and reliable Eddie.
You’re almost worthy of captain of the peloton status. If there’s a new rider in the bunch, even those not in your team, you may offer some words of wisdom or say hello. It’s completely unnecessary friendliness, and you’ll be lulled into a false sense of security, thinking this category one rider is just a harmless and nice guy. Almost too nice.
But don’t be fooled by all these niceties; it’s a ploy, a mask. You’re emotionally unable to be a feared category two rider, so you’re using your friendliness to do your dirty work for you. All the niceness is basically owed favours being banked at all times. You let someone in the line when they need…
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