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Originally Posted by ktspktsp
Cool thread sailor; I have a question for you:
What is the importance of a team in a cycling race? I read some news the other day about Armstrong's team falling back, and how he had to fend off other cyclists by himself, and how that would be a bad thing if it kept happening.
So how do team members operate to 'defend' the leader?
Thanks
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Basically what trikyy said. They surround their leader in the pack, blocking the wind for him so he's fresher when it's time to attack, and protecting him from any errant crashes. They also go back to the team cars and fetch water and food for him if/when he needs it. In the mountains, they will pace him up the climbs, again helping him to save his energy to attack when the time comes. The team will also chase down any breaks that are threatening to their leader's position.
Basically, they defend by making their leaders' life as easy as possible, so that when the time comes to make an attack, he is as fresh as possible and hasnt spent most of his energy chasing other attacks and riding into the wind all day.