Reading the Race: Bike Racing from Inside the Peloton

· VeloPress
4.4
11 reviews
Ebook
256
Pages
Eligible
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About this ebook

In Reading the Race, race announcer Jamie Smith and veteran road captain Chris Horner team up to deliver a master class in bike racing strategies and tactics. Armed with strategies and tactics learned over thousands of races, cyclists and cycling fans will learn how to read a race--and see how to win it.

Bike racing is called a rolling chess game for a reason. Sure, a high pain threshold and a killer VO2max are helpful. But if you're in it to win it, you need race smarts. Starting breaks, forming alliances, managing a lapped field, setting up a sprint--on every page, Horner and Smith reveal new secrets to faster racing and better results.

Smith and Horner dissect common mistakes, guiding riders with lessons learned from decades of racing experience. Reading the Race reveals the veteran's eye view on:
  • Assembling the best possible team
  • Crafting strategies around the team, course, and rivals
  • Reacting instantly to common scenarios
  • Making deals and combines
  • Breaks, echelons, blocking
  • Pack protocol and etiquette
  • Finishing in the prize money or on the podium
  • Winning the group ride

Whether you're a new racer, an aspiring pro, a team manager, or even a roadside fan, Reading the Race will elevate your cycling IQ for better racing.

Ratings and reviews

4.4
11 reviews

About the author

Jamie Smith is a veteran bike racer and bike race announcer. He has been a bike racer since 1983 working his way up through the ranks of amateur cycling, and a bike race announcer since 1985 traveling with some of the world's greatest cyclists. He spent several years in public relations for a sleepy Detroit suburb, receiving one Emmy nomination and several Telly Awards. Writing repetitive press releases and boring speeches inspired him to find something more exciting to write about: bike racing. A graduate of Central Michigan University's Broadcast and Cinematic Arts program, Jamie has become adept at describing cycling's most complex intricacies to normal people. His first book, Roadie: The Misunderstood World of a Bike Racer, was selected as a 2009 Notable Book by the Library of Michigan. He has since taken on the role of sport director to translate the complexities of bike racing for befuddled bike racers who mistakenly chase down their own teammates, miss the winning breakaway, and consistently finish one place out of the money. He currently lives in Rochester, Michigan, with his 11 bikes, 2 surfboards, 1 rowing scull, and 5 pair of cross-country skis.

Chris Horner is one of cycling's most popular and observant riders, blessed with a rare ability to read a race in progress and describe it fluently afterward. He began his long pro career in the U.S. in 1995 with PAA-NutraFig; moved to Europe for three years with Francaise des Jeux; and then returned to America to guide the Mercury, Prime Alliance, Saturn, and Webcor teams, with whom he won nearly every major race on the domestic calendar. A three-time national racing calendar champion, winner of the 2013 Vuelta a Espana, Tour de Langkawi, the Tour de Georgia, the Tour of the Basque Country, and the Tour of California, Horner led the 2012 U.S. Olympic squad and currently rides for RadioShack-Leopard-Trek, where his veteran counsel and unflappable temper make him the go-to guy for tactics, race smarts, and planning.

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