Best Small Break Formation

harringtonp

Was in a 6 man break last weekend and we were doing peel offs with the intention that each man do about 20 seconds on the front.

Many will argue that this is the best formation but I've been in breaks of similar size where there would be 2 lines of 3 and I have a gut feeling that these can sometimes work better.

Any opinions out there ?

Bambaata

Two lines of 3 would probably entice all to keep working so long as its a constant roll through without sudden surges

harringtonp

Bambaata wrote: »

Two lines of 3 would probably entice all to keep working so long as its a constant roll through without sudden surges

Yes and they were my thoughts too, quicker turnover as well

DirkVoodoo

Was this in Deenside?

I prefer peeling off, it means that you're not having to deal with people surging forwards and disrupting the flow.

I noticed in Deenside that the chase for the break was extremely disorganised when they tried the "ride through" method as whenever someone decides they don't have the legs or they aren't bothered, it destroyed everything. At least in the peeling formation, they could just move off the front quicker.

Lumen

It's interesting that in pro races you rarely see a tight, rotating break like you would in a TTT. The turns are often several minutes long and the formation isn't that tight.

harringtonp

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Was this in Deenside?

Yes, Deenside A3, last lap

Chips Lovell

The answer for me is usually "it depends". If everyone knows what they're doing and are relatively evenly matched, 3x2 works well. If you've got a few monsters or guys who don't know how to ride through correctly, then single file may keep the group rolling better. That way the weaker guys can do shorter turns and there's less risk of inexperienced riders blowing it apart by surging.

thekooman

was recently in a handicapped race (am in A3) and we started off with 20 lads rolling through... eventually on the hills it went down to 8 (2 x 4) and we kept a steady rolling through which kept very tight and we waited away for 95k (pace was 40kph up until 95k out of 120k) i think it worked well just constantly rolling through. it did break up a bit on little hills and we regrouped. everyone was honest in the group I have to say until we got caught.