There’s basically two ways to win a bike race – by attacking and winning from a small bunch (or solo), or in a sprint finish. Only a select few of us will mix it up in the bunch sprints, so the rest of us need to learn the art of attacking to create a breakaway situation. In this video, GCN does a good job at breaking it down.
Other posts on CyclingTips about attacking and breakaways that you might find useful: