As an upcoming pro cyclist, how important is it to know which type of rider you are?
As already stated in the title, how important do you think is it for an upcoming pro cyclist to know which type of rider they are? Specifically talking for junior and u23 categories where your role in the team may not yet be clearly defined.
Recently I read a case where a guy said his best strategy to win the race is to sit in the group 200m until the finish, then pulling the trigger. He has a huge 5s power, basically a sprinter. This strategy totally makes sense for someone with his predispositions but what made me stop for a second was that he said he used to have a lot of trouble sticking with that. So I asked him why that was and how he overcame it.
He said that when he first started bike racing he knew nothing and his idols were Cancellara and other TT and breakaway specialists. In an early cat 5 road race he got in an early break of 9 guys. They stayed away and he finished second, reinforcing his false fantasy that he was a breakaway rider. But after 100 races of "getting his ass kicked" he eventually realized he needs to chill out and do nothing. Quoting: "YOU HAVE ONE MATCH YOU IDIOT SPEND IT SMART."
His case might seem very "textbook" but how does a young rider who's still developing know which type of rider they are and how to not lock themselves in that one single group too early. Especially with this trend of development teams bringing a professional level to younger categories, which means you have to prove your talent earlier.
I'm asking this because as someone who's interested in helping riders improve and automate decision making in crucial situations of the race, I think without getting clear on what type of terrain / circumstances you're outstanding in, even if you do everything "correctly," if the plan's structured for the wrong physiology, it won't work. Same goes for training. What do you think?