Originally Posted by
Kayce
Depends on the field. Smaller fields I like to be around the back the whole way. But a big field I will stay up front for the first half. Playing the devil the whole race is a lot of fun, but wears you out. It is good for working on points race skills. So sometimes I will be devilin' as long as I can.
Heck - I'll second this whole thing.
In the 3s this last year (to be clear about my lack of elite level knowledge
, I played the devil for the first 4-5 sprints, and then would keep that momentum going to head to the front and ride the front bits. It certainly depended on who was in the field and how they were riding. As the saying goes, if I didn't see the sucker at the table, well, I'd move up sooner. It took me an entire year of riding these races to figure out how/when/where to move around.
I credit a bunch of the sprinting in those races as a help in improving my sprinting in points races.
Of note - as a pursuiter sort of guy, I'm only at the back to work on sprinting and the others at my track know it. Whenever things get hot, or if there are a legit group of sprinters at the back, I'll be far away.