Disc brakes can make the difference between winning and losing, according to Erik Zabel, and the German is doing his best to make sure that Katusha-Alpecin is on the winning side. Zabel joined the team as their performance manager over the winter, having previously worked with them as a sprint coach before he was suspended after he confessed to doping during his career. With disc brakes, a rider can brake both easier and later. Rim brakes require the use of the full hand, he said, and disc brakes only one finger, which is also an advantage in a dangerous situation. Being able to slow down later, allows a rider to hold their speed longer. `If you can brake later, you can have an advantage of a few hundredths of a second. In the end, that makes the difference,` Zabel said in an interview with Radsport-News.com. ADVERTISEMENT The German knows how to win a sprint, having brought in more than 150 pro wins in his 16-year career. Now at Katusha-Alpecin - where his son Rick is now a sprinter - Zabel convinced the team to convert to disc brakes. The use of disc brakes is `an ongoing process,` he said. `But you don`t have to be a prophet to see that in three to five years only disc brakes will be used.` In comparison to rim brakes, the discs are `naturally better,` he said. `It wasn`t easy to convince everyone to go this way. But I believe that it is an advantage to master the techniques before everyone uses it.`
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