The Benefits of Track Racing

Besides the fun atmosphere and fast racing, the velodrome provides many benefits that translates to road racing. When looking at the 2014 Tour of California results, many of the pros that did well in the TT, GC, and sprint stages all come from a track background. The velodrome helps riders with their sprints through the speed of racing and the pursuit helps riders with pace for time trials and even road races when they are off the front. Developing speed and sprints on the track is key because it is translated directly to road races in the last few kilometers of a race. In this years Tour of California we witnessed 2x Madison world champion, Mark Cavendish win two stages. Mark Cavendish comes from a strong track background winning multiple national championships as a junior. In the pursuit, pacing is key for having a fast time. Riders have to find a good pace where they are going as fast as possible but still have to finish strong. Developing pace on the track is translated on the road in time trials, as seen by multiple world track world champion, Bradley Wiggins, winning the TT and eventually GC at the Tour of California. Former pursuit world champion, Taylor Phinney also displayed his pacing effort on stage 5 of the TOC winning solo and also at the USA time trial national championship winning by about 51 seconds. Track racing is fun and it has many benefits that helps racers on the road. 

-Matt Valencia