At 31 years of age, Thomas De Gendt has firmly established himself as one of the best breakaway riders in the modern peloton. Stages in all three Grand Tours, along with numerous other victories, litter an already impressive palmarès.
During the recent Tour Down Under, the Lotto Soudal rider sat down with Cyclingnews to share his insight into how to pick the right move, and what to do once he's in it.
Preparation
You have to pick the right moment. I always look at the stage the night before, see what the profile is like, and then try and find the best place to try and attack. Usually, that’s an early uphill section. Once you commit, you need to go for it fully because then you’ve got the best chance of making the gap work. Of course, you need to have luck on your side, too.
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I’ve not seen the full Tour de France route but if I saw the stages now I could probably tell you which ones were the best days to try and make the break, and which days gave me the biggest chance of staying in the front. In the past, we’ve had that stage to Gap and that’s typically been the day when the group has stayed away, for example. I think two years ago it was [Ruben] Plaza who won and then a couple of years before it was someone else [Rui Costa -ed].
Stages like that, with a nice build up, a few hills, and then maybe a big climb around 20 kilometres from the finish, are ideal. That really helps to rule out the sprinters and, with the climb that far from the finish, it also means that the GC guys aren’t going to factor into a chase. Those stages, if there are two or three in the Tour, are the best for the breakaway.
Persistence
Know your frenemies
Listen to your body
Cooperation
Play the finale
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/de-gendt-the-art-of-the-breakaway-specialist
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