When there is a break why is the chase not disrupted by by team members of the breakaway riders?

Answer 1

This is a technique called blocking. Basically, a team with riders in a breakaway try to disrupt the chase as much as possible. They can sit on the front or they can sit in the chase and disrupt the flow of the pace line. You don't see this very much in Europe. A lot of it has to do with tactics. When there are 8 riders from one team chasing, it's often hard to get in there to disrupt. The know what you are up and they see right through it. Secondly, there is more of a gentlemen's agreement in Europe that this is not racing based on the merits.

Answer 2

they can and sometimes do, but the situation has to be kind of desperate. typically they slow the break in two ways. first they dont work. they just sit in and force the others to do any work done. there are times where they can go to the front and actually slow the pace. the problem is that if they do it too much they are likely to end up hurt. a quick clip of the front wheel and they would end up in a heap. you have to do it in subtle ways like taking the lead and dropping a mph while you are pulling, something like that.

Answer 3

Because they don't need to worry about them. It's the overall time for the riders, not who finishes first for the day.

Answer 4

sometimes it is, sometimes not
remember that there are a lot of strategies by each team for each stage of the tour, and they don't always call out for individuals to go or not to go
it also depends on the rest of the peloton, the current time standings, and how everybody feels at that moment of the stage, because as we all know, sometimes you have the energy to do something, other times it is better to conserve