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Sam7919
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There may be a trivial, or merely a psychological, answer to this question.

When someone with ambitions to win the race attacks, i.e. sprints ahead of their group, those also aspiring to win the race immediately respond to the attack.

If the race has hundreds (or thousands) of kilometres remaining — as is often the case — why the rush? Why does the response have to come at a timing chosen by the attacker? Perhaps the attacker felt a sudden rush of power in their legs, which may well be a unique fluke to their physiology (or their state of mind at that moment, or their specific perfect nutrition that morning, etc), and responders are not at their peaks at that very moment. Could they not bide their time, and attack later ("surreptitiously")? (With every rider wearing headphones, no attack can ever actually be surreptitious — but a gradual rather than a sudden attack would come close.)

I understand that they're often attempting to draft off the leader, which greatly reduces their power needs to maintain the same speed and remain close to the leader. Is there any other, deeper reason why the response to attacks is always so swift?

Disclaimer: I've never raced, which is perhaps why the answer may be trivial or just psychological. (I'm starting to suspect that reaching the upper limits of one's ability—or DNA—can only be achieved through racing — and so for example there is no point bemoaning that at a certain level of group riding it's all about racing, as racing and training are two sides of the same coin — but that's an entirely different topic.)

Edit

To be very specific, why did Jonas Vingegaard immediately respond to Tadej Pogačar's attack in Stage 2 of TdF 2024? It's still early in the race, and JV has thousands of kilometres to catch up.

Counterpoint

In retrospect an immediate response is not the only option. In Stage 11 of TdF 2024 Vingegaard did bide his time. He eventually caught up with Pogačar, and that strategy even earned him a stage win. (Editorializing, we can go further and say that "sneaking" behind an opponent is a legitimate — not to mention honorable and fruitful — strategy. By comparison towith another sport where every astute and talented move behind opponent lines is disallowed, we can go further and call ours the beautiful sport.)

There may be a trivial, or merely a psychological, answer to this question.

When someone with ambitions to win the race attacks, i.e. sprints ahead of their group, those also aspiring to win the race immediately respond to the attack.

If the race has hundreds (or thousands) of kilometres remaining — as is often the case — why the rush? Why does the response have to come at a timing chosen by the attacker? Perhaps the attacker felt a sudden rush of power in their legs, which may well be a unique fluke to their physiology (or their state of mind at that moment, or their specific perfect nutrition that morning, etc), and responders are not at their peaks at that very moment. Could they not bide their time, and attack later ("surreptitiously")? (With every rider wearing headphones, no attack can ever actually be surreptitious — but a gradual rather than a sudden attack would come close.)

I understand that they're often attempting to draft off the leader, which greatly reduces their power needs to maintain the same speed and remain close to the leader. Is there any other, deeper reason why the response to attacks is always so swift?

Disclaimer: I've never raced, which is perhaps why the answer may be trivial or just psychological. (I'm starting to suspect that reaching the upper limits of one's ability—or DNA—can only be achieved through racing — and so for example there is no point bemoaning that at a certain level of group riding it's all about racing, as racing and training are two sides of the same coin — but that's an entirely different topic.)

Edit

To be very specific, why did Jonas Vingegaard immediately respond to Tadej Pogačar's attack in Stage 2 of TdF 2024? It's still early in the race, and JV has thousands of kilometres to catch up.

Counterpoint

In retrospect an immediate response is not the only option. In Stage 11 of TdF 2024 Vingegaard did bide his time. He eventually caught up with Pogačar, and that strategy even earned him a stage win. (Editorializing, we can go further and say that "sneaking" behind an opponent is a legitimate — not to mention honorable and fruitful — strategy. By comparison to another sport where every astute and talented move behind opponent lines is disallowed, we can go further and call ours the beautiful sport.)

There may be a trivial, or merely a psychological, answer to this question.

When someone with ambitions to win the race attacks, i.e. sprints ahead of their group, those also aspiring to win the race immediately respond to the attack.

If the race has hundreds (or thousands) of kilometres remaining — as is often the case — why the rush? Why does the response have to come at a timing chosen by the attacker? Perhaps the attacker felt a sudden rush of power in their legs, which may well be a unique fluke to their physiology (or their state of mind at that moment, or their specific perfect nutrition that morning, etc), and responders are not at their peaks at that very moment. Could they not bide their time, and attack later ("surreptitiously")? (With every rider wearing headphones, no attack can ever actually be surreptitious — but a gradual rather than a sudden attack would come close.)

I understand that they're often attempting to draft off the leader, which greatly reduces their power needs to maintain the same speed and remain close to the leader. Is there any other, deeper reason why the response to attacks is always so swift?

Disclaimer: I've never raced, which is perhaps why the answer may be trivial or just psychological. (I'm starting to suspect that reaching the upper limits of one's ability—or DNA—can only be achieved through racing — and so for example there is no point bemoaning that at a certain level of group riding it's all about racing, as racing and training are two sides of the same coin — but that's an entirely different topic.)

Edit

To be very specific, why did Jonas Vingegaard immediately respond to Tadej Pogačar's attack in Stage 2 of TdF 2024? It's still early in the race, and JV has thousands of kilometres to catch up.

Counterpoint

In retrospect an immediate response is not the only option. In Stage 11 of TdF 2024 Vingegaard did bide his time. He eventually caught up with Pogačar, and that strategy even earned him a stage win. (Editorializing, we can go further and say that "sneaking" behind an opponent is a legitimate — not to mention honorable and fruitful — strategy. By comparison with another sport where every astute and talented move behind opponent lines is disallowed, we can go further and call ours the beautiful sport.)

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Sam7919
Sam7919
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There may be a trivial, or merely a psychological, answer to this question.

When someone with ambitions to win the race attacks, i.e. sprints ahead of their group, those also aspiring to win the race immediately respond to the attack.

If the race has hundreds (or thousands) of kilometres remaining — as is often the case — why the rush? Why does the response have to come at a timing chosen by the attacker? Perhaps the attacker felt a sudden rush of power in their legs, which may well be a unique fluke to their physiology (or their state of mind at that moment, or their specific perfect nutrition that morning, etc), and responders are not at their peaks at that very moment. Could they not bide their time, and attack later ("surreptitiously")? (With every rider wearing headphones, no attack can ever actually be surreptitious — but a gradual rather than a sudden attack would come close.)

I understand that they're often attempting to draft off the leader, which greatly reduces their power needs to maintain the same speed and remain close to the leader. Is there any other, deeper reason why the response to attacks is always so swift?

Disclaimer: I've never raced, which is perhaps why the answer may be trivial or just psychological. (I'm starting to suspect that reaching the upper limits of one's ability—or DNA—can only be achieved through racing — and so for example there is no point bemoaning that at a certain level of group riding it's all about racing, as racing and training are two sides of the same coin — but that's an entirely different topic.)

Edit

To be very specific, why did Jonas Vingegaard immediately respond to Tadej Pogačar's attack in Stage 2 of TdF 2024? It's still early in the race, and JV has thousands of kilometres to catch up.

Counterpoint

In retrospect an immediate response is not the only option. In Stage 11 of TdF 2024 Vingegaard did bide his time. He eventually caught up with Pogačar, and that strategy even earned him a stage win. (Editorializing, we can go further and say that "sneaking" behind an opponent is a legitimate — not to mention honorable and fruitful — strategy. By comparison to another sport where every astute and talented move behind opponent lines is disallowed, we can go further and call ours the beautiful sport.)

There may be a trivial, or merely a psychological, answer to this question.

When someone with ambitions to win the race attacks, i.e. sprints ahead of their group, those also aspiring to win the race immediately respond to the attack.

If the race has hundreds (or thousands) of kilometres remaining — as is often the case — why the rush? Why does the response have to come at a timing chosen by the attacker? Perhaps the attacker felt a sudden rush of power in their legs, which may well be a unique fluke to their physiology (or their state of mind at that moment, or their specific perfect nutrition that morning, etc), and responders are not at their peaks at that very moment. Could they not bide their time, and attack later ("surreptitiously")? (With every rider wearing headphones, no attack can ever actually be surreptitious — but a gradual rather than a sudden attack would come close.)

I understand that they're often attempting to draft off the leader, which greatly reduces their power needs to maintain the same speed and remain close to the leader. Is there any other, deeper reason why the response to attacks is always so swift?

Disclaimer: I've never raced, which is perhaps why the answer may be trivial or just psychological. (I'm starting to suspect that reaching the upper limits of one's ability—or DNA—can only be achieved through racing — and so for example there is no point bemoaning that at a certain level of group riding it's all about racing, as racing and training are two sides of the same coin — but that's an entirely different topic.)

Edit

To be very specific, why did Jonas Vingegaard immediately respond to Tadej Pogačar's attack in Stage 2 of TdF 2024? It's still early in the race, and JV has thousands of kilometres to catch up.

Counterpoint

In retrospect an immediate response is not the only option. In Stage 11 of TdF 2024 Vingegaard did bide his time. He eventually caught up with Pogačar, and that strategy even earned him a stage win.

There may be a trivial, or merely a psychological, answer to this question.

When someone with ambitions to win the race attacks, i.e. sprints ahead of their group, those also aspiring to win the race immediately respond to the attack.

If the race has hundreds (or thousands) of kilometres remaining — as is often the case — why the rush? Why does the response have to come at a timing chosen by the attacker? Perhaps the attacker felt a sudden rush of power in their legs, which may well be a unique fluke to their physiology (or their state of mind at that moment, or their specific perfect nutrition that morning, etc), and responders are not at their peaks at that very moment. Could they not bide their time, and attack later ("surreptitiously")? (With every rider wearing headphones, no attack can ever actually be surreptitious — but a gradual rather than a sudden attack would come close.)

I understand that they're often attempting to draft off the leader, which greatly reduces their power needs to maintain the same speed and remain close to the leader. Is there any other, deeper reason why the response to attacks is always so swift?

Disclaimer: I've never raced, which is perhaps why the answer may be trivial or just psychological. (I'm starting to suspect that reaching the upper limits of one's ability—or DNA—can only be achieved through racing — and so for example there is no point bemoaning that at a certain level of group riding it's all about racing, as racing and training are two sides of the same coin — but that's an entirely different topic.)

Edit

To be very specific, why did Jonas Vingegaard immediately respond to Tadej Pogačar's attack in Stage 2 of TdF 2024? It's still early in the race, and JV has thousands of kilometres to catch up.

Counterpoint

In retrospect an immediate response is not the only option. In Stage 11 of TdF 2024 Vingegaard did bide his time. He eventually caught up with Pogačar, and that strategy even earned him a stage win. (Editorializing, we can go further and say that "sneaking" behind an opponent is a legitimate — not to mention honorable and fruitful — strategy. By comparison to another sport where every astute and talented move behind opponent lines is disallowed, we can go further and call ours the beautiful sport.)

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Sam7919
Sam7919
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There may be a trivial, or merely a psychological, answer to this question.

When someone with ambitions to win the race attacks, i.e. sprints ahead of their group, those also aspiring to win the race immediately respond to the attack.

If the race has hundreds (or thousands) of kilometres remaining — as is often the case — why the rush? Why does the response have to come at a timing chosen by the attacker? Perhaps the attacker felt a sudden rush of power in their legs, which may well be a unique fluke to their physiology (or their state of mind at that moment, or their specific perfect nutrition that morning, etc), and responders are not at their peaks at that very moment. Could they not bide their time, and attack later ("surreptitiously")? (With every rider wearing headphones, no attack can ever actually be surreptitious — but a gradual rather than a sudden attack would come close.)

I understand that they're often attempting to draft off the leader, which greatly reduces their power needs to maintain the same speed and remain close to the leader. Is there any other, deeper reason why the response to attacks is always so swift?

Disclaimer: I've never raced, which is perhaps why the answer may be trivial or just psychological. (I'm starting to suspect that reaching the upper limits of one's ability—or DNA—can only be achieved through racing — and so for example there is no point bemoaning that at a certain level of group riding it's all about racing, as racing and training are two sides of the same coin — but that's an entirely different topic.)

Edit

To be very specific, why did Jonas Vingegaard immediately respond to Tadej Pogačar's attack in Stage 2 of TdF 2024? It's still early in the race, and JV has thousands of kilometres to catch up.

Counterpoint

In retrospect an immediate response is not the only option. In Stage 11 of TdF 2024 Vingegaard did bide his time. He eventually caught up with Pogačar, and that strategy even earned him a stage win.

There may be a trivial, or merely a psychological, answer to this question.

When someone with ambitions to win the race attacks, i.e. sprints ahead of their group, those also aspiring to win the race immediately respond to the attack.

If the race has hundreds (or thousands) of kilometres remaining — as is often the case — why the rush? Why does the response have to come at a timing chosen by the attacker? Perhaps the attacker felt a sudden rush of power in their legs, which may well be a unique fluke to their physiology (or their state of mind at that moment, or their specific perfect nutrition that morning, etc), and responders are not at their peaks at that very moment. Could they not bide their time, and attack later ("surreptitiously")? (With every rider wearing headphones, no attack can ever actually be surreptitious — but a gradual rather than a sudden attack would come close.)

I understand that they're often attempting to draft off the leader, which greatly reduces their power needs to maintain the same speed and remain close to the leader. Is there any other, deeper reason why the response to attacks is always so swift?

Disclaimer: I've never raced, which is perhaps why the answer may be trivial or just psychological. (I'm starting to suspect that reaching the upper limits of one's ability—or DNA—can only be achieved through racing — and so for example there is no point bemoaning that at a certain level of group riding it's all about racing, as racing and training are two sides of the same coin — but that's an entirely different topic.)

Edit

To be very specific, why did Jonas Vingegaard immediately respond to Tadej Pogačar's attack in Stage 2 of TdF 2024? It's still early in the race, and JV has thousands of kilometres to catch up.

Counterpoint

In retrospect an immediate response is not the only option. In Stage 11 of TdF 2024 Vingegaard did bide his time. He eventually caught up, and that strategy even earned him a stage win.

There may be a trivial, or merely a psychological, answer to this question.

When someone with ambitions to win the race attacks, i.e. sprints ahead of their group, those also aspiring to win the race immediately respond to the attack.

If the race has hundreds (or thousands) of kilometres remaining — as is often the case — why the rush? Why does the response have to come at a timing chosen by the attacker? Perhaps the attacker felt a sudden rush of power in their legs, which may well be a unique fluke to their physiology (or their state of mind at that moment, or their specific perfect nutrition that morning, etc), and responders are not at their peaks at that very moment. Could they not bide their time, and attack later ("surreptitiously")? (With every rider wearing headphones, no attack can ever actually be surreptitious — but a gradual rather than a sudden attack would come close.)

I understand that they're often attempting to draft off the leader, which greatly reduces their power needs to maintain the same speed and remain close to the leader. Is there any other, deeper reason why the response to attacks is always so swift?

Disclaimer: I've never raced, which is perhaps why the answer may be trivial or just psychological. (I'm starting to suspect that reaching the upper limits of one's ability—or DNA—can only be achieved through racing — and so for example there is no point bemoaning that at a certain level of group riding it's all about racing, as racing and training are two sides of the same coin — but that's an entirely different topic.)

Edit

To be very specific, why did Jonas Vingegaard immediately respond to Tadej Pogačar's attack in Stage 2 of TdF 2024? It's still early in the race, and JV has thousands of kilometres to catch up.

Counterpoint

In retrospect an immediate response is not the only option. In Stage 11 of TdF 2024 Vingegaard did bide his time. He eventually caught up with Pogačar, and that strategy even earned him a stage win.

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