Originally Posted by carpediemracing

The bit I focus on is not being able to get on that train as it goes by. It would have been a short, sharp anaerobic effort to get on that wheel. It's imperative to keep that gap shut, even if you think the effort is too hard to make sense. Once you're on the wheel you'll be able to rest and recover.

The second bit is if the gap is gone and you can't close it immediately, i.e. slam it shut, then you should ease and see if you can recover something from it. I mean, okay, if it's 200m to go then you just slog to the line, but if there's more than 15-20 seconds of racing to go then you should hang your head (so everyone else knows you've exploded) and see if you can get on the next train that goes by.

To me, though, the fact that the gap opened up is the thing immediately popped out. I don't even remember the first bit of the clip, the gap bit is so significant.

If your legs were super fatigued then that's one explanation, but that means like you just did a massive anaerobic effort (like closing a gap or doing a leadout) and you're totally redlined. Another would be you're cramping like mad so you have no force left in your legs. Another would be you're bonking and super weak. On the other hand if you didn't feel like you were about to pass out from fatigue or lactic acid or lack of oxygen then you need to work on making those short, sharp efforts and the mental commitment to making those short, sharp efforts.