Race/Fast Pace Line Etiquette
I'm relatively new to racing and group riding and trying to learn all I can so I don't make stupid dangerous mistakes. One thing I noticed is that when I roll off the front of my race, and try to take 4th or 5th place in the line, often time the guy who occupies that space won't let me in and I end up riding parallel to the paceline for quite some time trying to squeeze my way in (safely). This obviously is a huge waste of power but as I'm one of the workhorses for my team, I can hardly rotate to the back of the 30+ person group and still expect to contribute at the front.
What is the etiquette? Am I wrong to try to squeeze in between the 3rd-6th place at the front or are they wrong to not let me in? Of course, in racing I don't take anything personally as they know it costs me more energy to ride outside so it's in their interest to do so...but I wanted to know whether if I press the issue by edging them out would I be in the wrong?
As I absolutely do not want to cause a crash, what other tips/tricks should I be aware of while riding in a race? I'm Cat 5, obviously, but want to ride at the level of a Cat 3/2. My personal bike handling skills are average/slightly above average so I don't have too many concerns about handling my bike, just mostly about what type of situations to avoid and where I would be in the wrong / right. Right now I'm pretty scared to act in any risky way because I don't know if it's 'allowed' or if that type of riding would be bad on my end (but it's costing me energy in the race and I know I need to conserve energy as much as possible too).