Wednesday 28 July 2010

Cycling and Running Tactics

There seemed to have been quite a lot of crashes in the early stages of the Tour de France this year. I suppose that shouldn’t be surprising when you have a pack of cyclists jostling for position at 45mph, and if the guy in front of you hits a problem, you don’t have much chance of avoiding them.

In middle distance athletics, some athletes seem better at keeping themselves out of trouble than others, and I wondered if this also might apply to cycling, and how one might train to improve ones tactical awareness when in a pack.

In cycling there does seem to be an answer – rollers. Rollers can be placed in several positions, such as line abreast or one behind the other, so that the riders can practice the different situations that they’re likely to experience in a race, including bumping and jostling.

I don’t see any reason why a similar idea couldn’t be used in athletics, either with several treadmills side by side or with one large one. Runners could even be attached to harnesses so they aren’t hurt if they trip up.

It’s about time we produced another Steve Ovett, who was the master of forcing his way out of a blocked position on the track. Get onto it now, Sir Clive.

David


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