How Bike Racing Has Changed Since the 1980s

The following is an excerpt from the book Reading the Race.

The tactics that we see in road cycling today are quite different than they were 20 or 30 years ago. They're kinder and gentler. That's not to say that bike racing is kind and gentle. It's definitely not, but today's tactics are more polite than they were in the 1980s.

When Push Comes to Shove

In 1982, I was in a criterium in which our team missed the breakaway. I went to the front of the field and tried to pick up the pace to get the chase effort started when a rider (from a team that hadn't missed the breakaway) came alongside me, got his shoulder ahead of my shoulder, and slowly pushed me into the curb.

More: Race Strategies for Breaking Away

That brought my chase effort to a grinding halt. A teammate of mine took up the chase again, only to be physically hooked into the curb by the same rider. No one yelled. No one said a word. It was just accepted as proper technique for squelching a chase attempt. To overcome this tactic, you either had to push back or ride faster.

Another example of this kind of "old school" race tactic occurred in the final mile of a road race. Things were ramping up for the sprint. Riders were clinging to the rear wheel of their lead-out man, waiting to pounce. I was sitting on a fast sprinter's wheel in the perfect position. If I could get around him at the finish, I'd be on the podium for sure.

Suddenly, another rider slammed into my right side, pushing me out into the wind. He took over the position I was holding. I lost three positions before I was able to push someone else over and take their position. The end result? I didn't get on the podium.

More: 10 Tips for Beginning Road Racers

Sneaky Assistance

Older racers know how to sneak into the pit area and get a free lap without having the requisite mechanical problem to qualify for a free lap. I won't tell you how it's done because I don't wish to corrupt your mind with bad ideas. I will also say that I've never done it. Not lately, anyway.

Another common tactic from the Dark Ages: If someone wanted to move forward through the peloton, they might put their hand on your hip and pull you backward before pushing you forward.

Legal? Not at all. Common? Yep. It wasn't necessarily loved, but it was standard protocol. In fact, aggressive and physical riding was taught by the top coaches of the day.

More: Pre-Race Homework: Knowing is Half the Battle

The Toughness of the Peloton

Eddie Borysewicz was the American national team coach throughout most of the 1980s. In his 1984 book Bicycle Road Racing—Complete Program for Training and Competition (Velo-News 1984), the following passage appears.

"You must be tough. You must repulse elbows with elbows of your own, but don't fight when you don't need to. Be fair, but don't be chicken. Sometimes you might need to lock your brakes in front of the blocker, not to make him crash but to let him know you are a dangerous guy to fool with.

"If you bothered me when I was racing, I would hit you with my rear wheel—bang it right into your front wheel and knock you down if you weren't a good bike handler. I would say, 'You want to play? What kind of game do you want? I'm ready for anything. C'mon!'"

More: Your Post-Race Assignment

Eddie was the authority on racing in the 1980s. A lot of what he taught is still valid, but not the physical stuff.

Perhaps one of the more interesting tactical changes we've seen in recent years is the demise of wheel sucking, once the hallmark of bike racing. Now it's just a lost art.

1987

Riders X and Y attack. Rider Z bridges across to them and refuses to pull through. Rider Z pretends to be either "too tired" to rotate through, he or she is selectively deaf and can't hear the other cyclists yelling at him. Riders X and Y do everything they can to shake Rider Z, but to no avail. At the end of the race, Rider Z suddenly comes to life and sprints for the win after doing no work at all in the breakaway.

2014

Riders X and Y attack. Rider Z bridges across to them and never takes a pull. Rider Z sits on the back of the breakaway silently. Maybe he's tired. Maybe he just likes the view. Who knows? X and Y ignore him as they motor toward the finish line. In the end, Z finishes in 3rd place. After the race, he graciously thanks X and Y for letting him sit on.

More: How to Perfect Your Team Leadouts

That's a true event that I witnessed with my own eyes. It goes against everything I was taught in the "old school" days of racing. Rider Z should have sprinted around them and gone for the win. That's bike racing!

Shame on Riders X and Y for not working together to drop the cyclist hanging on to the back. Why? The reason X and Y should conspire to drop Z even if he has no intention of sprinting is to put their teammates in contention for 3rd place. If they play nice and allow him to sit in, their teammates will be sprinting for 4th place and less prize money.

Today, riders using aggressive tactics are met with great scorn. Cyclists are more self-policing in the contemporary peloton. They don't rely on the officials to see all of the infractions, and the physicality of the old school tactics isn't tolerated.

Those days, for better or worse, are long gone.

More: Are Computer-Predicted Results a Good Thing?

Ready to ride? Search for a cycling event.