Originally Posted by
jonathanf2
I'm beginning to wonder if the leaderboard riders were doing something similar or using their riding buddies to gain speed?
Drafting can make a huge difference. I suspect most KOMs that don't involve much climbing are set by people drafting other cyclists, scooters, cars or trucks etc. Hey, whatever works right?
I got myself to 9th overall on one particular 0.33km segment with -1.8% gradient by drafting a truck. The truck came along at the right time, I managed to jump on and averaged 63.7 km/h for the segment. The fastest average speed I'd managed up until then under my own power was just 50 km/h or so.