Couldn’t agree more! Every time there is a thread like this there are a bunch of people saying “stay near the front”, “stay in the top third”, etc. My experience is that this is extremely hard to do, for the simple reason that everybody in the race is trying to do the same thing. My N=1 has been:
- Sitting in the front third without doing regular pulls is extremely difficult. Having team mates who are doing pulls and giving you wheels helps. Being well known on the local race circuit helps as people are more likely to do you a favour or at least not pi$$ you off if they know you and see you around regularly. And having great handling skills and being comfortable riding shoulder to shoulder and wheel to wheel helps. Somebody who is new to racing likely has none of these things going in their favour!
- In some races/regions people seem more inclined to respect strong riders and follow wheels. In which case once you’ve done a few turns and established that you’re a contender/contributor and not just a wheelsucker, people will let you back in more easily, see you as a good wheel to follow and are less likely to try and jump in front of you the moment they see a 6 inch gap between your wheel and the wheel in front.
- In some races/regions people are just ruthless f****ers and don’t give a s**t who you are or whether you’ve just done a monster pull to bring back a break. They won’t let you in unless you force yourself onto a wheel, and if you let even the merest hint of a gap open up in front of you they’ll be trying to come round and force their way into it. I’ve come across a few races like this, typically flat ones with a big field where it’s highly likely to come down to a bunch sprint and everybody thinks they have a shot. I either don’t enter these races, or I give up on the “stay near the front” plan and go for exactly what you’re suggesting. Loiter near the back and take every opportunity to fly off the front, occasionally it sticks and is extremely satisfying (had this recently and got a nice podium), even if it doesn’t at least you’re getting a good workout and making other people do some work to chase you. I’m too old to be taking contact and trading insults trying to hold onto 8th wheel in some race which nobody other than the racers cares about.