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
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