Do I need more FTP to race?? 

You should do a podcast with NorCal Cycling and let him analyze your crit racing tactics and strengths and weaknesses.

The answer is “race forward”… meaning you should always be trying to advance your position. If your holding, your going backwards. The question then becomes how/when to do that. Note all the times you are coasting, you should stay on the pedals. Not hard pedaling or sprinting, just steady pedaling. You will pass a few or many people as they are coasting. Look for wheels to follow up on either side. Don’t get stuck boxed in. Pedal into the corners, carry speed, and stay smooth. You can let a little gap open before the corner, then pedal before corner… will carry more speed and won’t need to sprint out of the corner as much.

Love your videos! Best personality on cycling youtube!😎

You have a great presence for this stuff. One of the best - friendly and non assuming.

FTP of itself is not your issue. Should I comment. I'm not sure, but I've watched you for so long and you seem genuine in asking a question. You rev out and its only half way in: meaning you don't or can't push a bigger gear. Do you have endurance enough to finish a race: appears not. Do you look forward 3 or 4 wheels: not from your comments or your riding. You don't move forward into a gap further up. You kept losing spots from lap 1 and didn't move up once. You do that alot. You make comments like exhausting, braking, watt bombs, its hard. Its a crit , you should easily be able to hang and be able to close gaps. Or perhaps you're in the wrong grade. Either you can hang & gain spots or get fitter - not more FTP just fitter. Move up into a gap. It's not about being aggressive. You don't have to cut someone's wheel or dive bomb them. Move up in the straights into a gap. Either you can see it or you can't do it. Racing is moving up not simply falling back blaming it on watt bombs or it being hard. Of course its hard. In the words of a famous coach do something, anything. Don't think, do. In that race what did you do? That's the issue. Do.

Bumping in a criterium is to be expected. That guy is being a drama queen. I think you should probably just incorporate more group rides and take more aggressive lines to be near the front more often. Your power is definitely good enough to be up there man!

Good one. I always enjoy checking your races. Good tips and it’s cool to see your progress!!

Some riders are naturally "punchy" - and it seems to be that the lighter riders are more punchy than the heavier riders. I'm at 89kg and my punch value is around 22%. Meaning that there never is a really big difference between my watts and normalized power. Punchy riders always do better at crits than I do at a consistent 3.0 - 3.4w/kg average. Nice race!

You're right that you definitely could have been more aggressive in a lot of those instances, especially in the first few laps (but in most of them there wasn't anything you could have done). One thing I've found is that if you loose a spot through a corner, it's usually because the other got his bars in front of yours before the turn started. So if you can move up a meter, or hold the wheel going into the corner, you'll usually gain or maintain a spot through it. But it the end it looks like it came down to fitness.Towards the end when there were opportunities to move up it looked like you were shelled and didn't have the legs for it. And then just bad luck getting gapped by the crash at the end.

Probably need more high interval sessions + positioning. FTP looks decent

Looking at everyone’s cadences there is lots of coasting. (Prolly less so in the front). Watch those breakaway guys in the grand tours, they always pedal. They can follow wheels because it’s predictable, safer and reduces fatigue. Get up there and do a few turns on the front and count it as your gift to the race.

Two 2 3 pedal turns while other are coasting will move you up.

Crit racing is 50% physical strength & 50% mental strength - you are too caught up in FTP numbers, have you thought about finding a coach to help you mentally with race tactics in reading a race? You tend to give up spots but not take them back, the further back you are in a tech crit like this, the more energy you use because of the accordion effect. Your race was over by lap 2 when you had a great start & gave up a ton of places because the energy it will consume to get them back each lap is double that you save losing them. Until you correct your mental racing & learn where you need to be in a race to be the most efficient - you will always be just pack-filler or being dropped.

Hey CM. You have more experience than me. This was a technical course with all the turns. I think your FTP is fine. You talked a lot about your cornering, and I see what you're talking about. This is what I do when cornering, and it helps me to hold THE WHEEL IN FRONT OF ME. What I do is focus on the back wheel of the person in front of me(not the person in front of me,,,, but the person in front of him) See what I'm saying? Mind set for me = For some reason this keeps me close,,,, close enough where I don't have to break,,, then burn a match. If you didnt know this, I hope it helps you. Good video BTW

Probably a coach that can take your cycling up a notch and more. You seemed to be struggling a bit fitness-wise but also your riding strategies. Can be remedied with some excellent coaching.

This race is always hard. Even the pro race most of the field gets dropped here. The gaps that opened after the guy fell were hard to fill back up. I was about a couple riders behind you and that hurt. I managed to stay with the group until maybe about 3-4 laps to go.

Great video Claudio. You asked about corning and I think mostly you are doing a great job controlling your bike cornering in a group. I think that if you're cornering and folks are on the outside of you and the turn that you make sure you give them space and not drift to the boundary. As you hit the straightaway there will be enough space for the outside rider next to you to maintain speed and not feel like they are being cut off. I believe Jeff Norcal Cycling brought this up in his last video

The guy yelling at you is just noise, I couldn't see anything you did wrong. And, yes are mentally EXAUTSTING! Loving your journey, keep it rolling.

Rage Watts! lmao...I'll take two t shirts.

That foot/body position that guy in front you at the end had was terribllllleeee, he was taking those corners soooo slow.

I think more technical skills in crit racing will help you out. Group ride just arent the same as crit racing in the sense that it’s a different state of mind and goals that you enter with. I think you should try to go more to your local crits and treat them as practices. Try to figure out how to become a better crit racer instead of trying to win crit races. Norcal cycling said that winning a crit race involves 1000 tiny choices. Perhaps it has something to do with lack of confidence while racing shoulder to shoulder, because you need that type of mindset when crit racing, but it also matters the type of lines you make, and where you’re applying the power. That vague little endpoint, I think, is what you’re struggling on. I would also like to see if you can get on call with NorCal cycling to analyze a few of your crits for a video. And never forget his words, “Slow is smooth and smooth as fast”

Do you take a looong ride every couple of weeks, say more than 80 miles? I raced better when I did that, as my body knew that the fatigue point was way in the distance. Allowed me to race hard the entire race. Old long since retired racer here.

I'm no expert but if you plan on riding crits, you shouldn't worry about your w/kg. 4 w/kg is impressive but 300w at 4 w/kg is a lot faster than 250 at 4 w/kg. Gain the weight which will help gain the power.

Lack of comfort/aggression means you lean on technical skills more. If youre not up front youre gonna spike too much.

Seek the inside line in the corners. More opertunity there. You only risk getting pinchet once instead of twice. Be opertunistic and put in 250 watts when other riders are coasting. Again more opertunity inside than outside. Work on you confidence cornering. You can go much faster while being aware of you NOT clipping a pedal. HELLO TOP TEN!!!

The USAC rules on free laps are very vague and only state "one free lap may be granted for each mishap" and is basically left completely to the discretion of the USAC officials on site to determine if you are allowed back into the race or not. Just head back to the pit, tell them a rider crashed right in front of you, and they will almost always let you back in. Better than getting dropped trying to chase your way back on when you were legitimately effected by the rider crashing right in front of you in a corner. I've sincerely enjoyed watching you learn and grow as a racer the past few years.

Try doing VO2 max intervals.

FTP is fine . You need to learn to react more quickly and recognize the threat before it happens . Watch the riders five riders ahead of you not the guy who’s wheel you are on . When everyone is going through the corners every time looking for an opportunity to move up . Do that watt bomb on offense not defense

yes... ftp

Listening to you review your own race footage, I feel like you are over thinking too many things. If your mind is trying to process anywhere near this level of information whilst you're racing, you're already on the back foot. By Cat 3, the basics should be more 'natural'. You know how to ride a bike and you have race experience. Believe in your abilities and those experiences. Try making simple adjustments. Let a small gap open as you approach a corner, set your pedals, and roll through. You will carry more speed into, through and out of the corner, whilst removing the need to brake and drop a 'watt bomb' out of every corner. If you want a wheel, make the effort. Watching it go down the road will only frustrate you. That 30 second - one minute effort required to get on the wheel could, make all the difference. You might get a ride up to the front where the power is smoother. In my personal experience, 270 watts should be enough to keep you in the mix. You might not win but, you'll be in the race.

You need to work on cornering, being able to pedal through corners

7min, the rider, blue shirt on the left... the worst technic I ever seen loll

Claudio- ftp is fine. Come on man you have to ride the from 20% or higher in a technical crit. That is all you need to do

FTP is only really relevant if you're riding off the front, or time trialling. Learn to corner at speed. This is your greatest weakness I reckon. Next, ride in an aero position. Every time I see you riding you're bolt upright. Train properly. Do VO2 max intervals. Do 30/30s. Do 5x5s. Get some top end power. Then, if you really want to try to win a race, then you need to change your attitude. You need to be confident. You need to be assertive. You need to be smart. You need to be aggressive. You need to believe you're able to win. You need to work out how you can win - your sprint isn't good enough, so you need to be attacking off the front in the second half of the race. Good luck.

remove brakes

5 minutes a day of visualization would help you a ton.