Giro 2011

Sometimes the break stays away, especially on days before or after mountain stages when teams want to save or recover energy.

There's a TV aspect too, i.e. get your sponsors some exposure on TV. On day's like today, this is the main reason to be in a break.

So on a stage like today, some of the riders will have been told to try to initiate or make it into a break by their directors for the money. How much of what goes on in the race is dictated by the directors (either in advance or from the team car) and how much comes down to the rider's intuition on the day.

(I guess this leads into the radios debate)

As a triathlete/occasional time trialist I'm not so hot on the tactics - I just push as hard as I can for as long as I can!