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@ewanmac
Question. In sprinters stages (like I believe today is expected to be) where everyone expects the finish to come down to a bunch sprint, how and why do breakaways happen?
Obviously the fundamental motivation is the hope that the peleton will fail to organise themselves sufficiently to chase the break down, but in most cases this seems like a longshot, especially with teams like Lampre and HTC riding for Petacchi and Cav.
Do the riders in the breakaway just feel confident and go for glory themselves, or do the instructions come from the directors? But why would a director want to send a rider on what will almost certainly be a doomed mission?
I guess one reason is that having a rider in the break means the rest of the team can just sit back and relax? Also I know sponsorship comes into it.
I know its fantastically complicated but interested to know more about the tactics and where they come from?