Braking (cycling)

The term brakes designated cycling - jargon as opposed to brake in the sense of "negative acceleration" a tactical maneuver.

In a narrower sense, braking means : disturbing attacks by opponents or slowing down the pace of the main field . In fact, there are innumerable small maneuvers that help to prevent opposing actions. The goal is for all actions the same: attempts of their own team , driver - attempts by the enemy be defeated as possible to bring advantage to the finish, supported thus should. The background to this is that international bike races are only held in teams. But even in national races, the drivers increasingly compete in teams and support each other or a protected driver of the team, the "captain", who is supposed to win the race.

According to the competition regulations, it is not allowed to use the brakes during these maneuvers or to stop suddenly, as this would endanger and hinder other drivers .

The following options are available when braking :

• Shadowing the opposing driver: A driver with good sprinting qualities ( one-day races ) or a medium to good placement in the overall classification ( tours ) is assigned to constantly be near a promising opposing driver and to go along in an attack. The opposing rider will regularly stop his attacks if he notices the “shadowing” on his rear wheel, because otherwise he would allow an opponent a good placement or an improvement in the overall classification. Variants: If the attacker does not break off the attack or if the attacker does not break off the attack, the “tailor” can participate in the leadership work of the emerging group of outliers or refuse to do so, depending on the goals of the team.

• Disturbing leadership work: This maneuver is used in breakaway groups as well as chase groups and in the peloton . In all cases, the aim is to stop opposing drivers, whether they want to gain a lead, reduce the lead of their own comrades or catch up with the front as a chasing group. For this purpose, the driver mixes with the first 10 to 15 (in the main field) or participates in the leadership work of the outlier / pursuer group. If he comes into the lead, he slows down the pace or creates unrest in the group with sham attacks so that it “doesn't run”. In professional road racing, the tactic is very rarely used in this form: Instead, the driver simply refuses to lead, but drives at the end of the group, which is enough to be a "brake block" for the group. In the peloton, the team withdraws from leadership work, but remains in the front third of the race in order to thwart any chasing groups.

• Sham attacks: They are part of the “high art” of cycling tactics, as in the worst case they can have the opposite effect. If carried out correctly, they too slow down the pace of the field and in breakaway groups and are therefore part of the braking tactics. Both this tactic and the shadowing demonstrate that braking is by no means an effort-saving job - therefore racing cyclists say: "Braking properly is backbreaking work!"

• Other tricks: In addition to these three most important braking tactics, there are numerous small tricks that are mainly used in lower performance classes. This way you can keep the main field busy and at the same time restrained if you don't put a chasing group immediately but just keep an eye on, because as long as the group is "on the way", all teams that have riders in this group will not keep the pace of the peloton increase. Of course there are also tricks that are rather questionable: Relieving to the wrong side is suitable, for example, to disrupt the work of a group of pursuers, but in the worst case it can lead to falls. Deliberately driving slowly through corners is sometimes a popular tactic in circuit races , but it is also not entirely safe.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ UCI regulations for road cycling, there 2.3.001 and 2.6.004. (pdf) uci.ch, November 1, 2015, accessed on November 22, 2015 (English). 
2. ↑ cf. Competition regulations road of the Association of German Cyclists (accessed on September 1, 2012)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.1 MB), 7.5 there. (1): No racing driver may prevent a competitor from driving past or from developing full speed. Pushing away, hanging up, pushing or pulling away for the purpose of personal or mutual benefit or other hindrances, such as suddenly stopping or leaving the driving line during or during the end of the race without mandatory necessity, is considered a violation of the competition regulations and will be punished in accordance with the catalog of penalties.