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Video: How to hold your position in a bunch

Make sure you're in the best place to maximise your chances of a top position...

A new British Cycling video shows you how to hold your position in a bunch, the latest in the Racesmart series designed to promote better racing.

Holding your position is quite a complex skill, especially towards the sharp end of a race or just before a climb or crosswind section when everyone is competing for the same places.

Former pro rider Matt Stephens explains how to move up the bunch and stay there, where the pace is less erratic than towards the rear.

You’re also less at risk of getting caught behind a crash if you’re positioned near the front, and more likely to stay in the front group if there are any splits in the peloton.

The video advises you to stay alert, focus on the wheel in front, and to concentrate on holding it to make sure you maintain your position.

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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6 comments

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SteppenHerring | 9 years ago
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I thought that the motivation behind these was the perceived lack of discipline in certain 4th cat races recently. At least I hear complaints - and I've seen scars - from some people I know who do race.

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Tony Farrelly | 9 years ago
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Well, I'm sure they're all very happy… hope so, cos we want to keep using the videos  16

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Yennings | 9 years ago
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Much as I like these GCN videos, Road.cc seems to be retweeting a lot of their content recently as 'news'. Is there a commercial relationship between the two companies or is it just a slow news day?

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Tony Farrelly replied to Yennings | 9 years ago
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Yennings wrote:

Much as I like these GCN videos, Road.cc seems to be retweeting a lot of their content recently as 'news'. Is there a commercial relationship between the two companies or is it just a slow news day?

A lot?  39

GCN make their videos available to all media outlets - we chose to use some of them. In point of fact this isn't a GCN video it's a video on GCN produced for British Cycling - there's a difference. You can find them on the British Cycling website too.

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Denzil Dexter replied to Tony Farrelly | 9 years ago
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Tony Farrelly wrote:
Yennings wrote:

Much as I like these GCN videos, Road.cc seems to be retweeting a lot of their content recently as 'news'. Is there a commercial relationship between the two companies or is it just a slow news day?

A lot?  39

GCN make their videos available to all media outlets - we chose to use some of them. In point of fact this isn't a GCN video it's a video on GCN produced for British Cycling - there's a difference. You can find them on the British Cycling website too.

I hope British Cycling aren't paying too for those vids, there seems to be an awful lot more GCN branding on there than British Cycling's - even on the British Cycling website. Just sayin' like  26

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pauldmorgan replied to Yennings | 9 years ago
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Yennings wrote:

Much as I like these GCN videos, Road.cc seems to be retweeting a lot of their content recently as 'news'. Is there a commercial relationship between the two companies or is it just a slow news day?

If you like them why do you care? This is a free website that needs to somehow fund its activities so if there was a commercial relationship (which seemingly there isn't) would that be a bad thing? The GCN videos have quite high production values - people (crew, presenters etc) have to get paid somehow. Syndicating this content to widen the audience and awareness of their brand seems to me like a good thing all round.

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