Sprinting

From the archive, old-time members, Daphne Karydas, Ross Fleischman and Nathan Drake, and coach Ed Sassler

In some ways, sprinting, like time-trialing, appears to be a pure form of cycling. Anyone who has ever seen a sprint finish in a professional road race knows that it is basically a 200 meter drag race, won by the rider with the biggest legs, right? Wrong. In fact, many variables contribute to making a cyclist a successful sprinter, and fortunately for most of us, big legs are just a small part of the equation. This tip of the week focuses on the most important elements of sprinting: running the wheel, developing a good first step, and understanding and using sprint dynamics to your advantage. Many races are not won in sprints, but when the time comes, you want to be ready for it.

So just to set the scene, imagine that you are one kilometer from the end of a 60-kilometer race. You are well positioned in the top ten of the thirty cyclists who remain in the field. Your objective: to cross the line first. How are you going to do that?

First, you know how to run the wheel
Daphne starts: "Anyone who has ridden with a group of riders in a paceline has experienced the benefit of drafting, but not as many have realized the benefits that a draft can provide when sprinting. Taking full advantage of the principles of drafting can make any racer a better sprinter.

When moving up in the pack, covering others' jumps or sprinting for the finish line, you often have to come out of the draft to pass a rider. Many inexperienced racers will simply pull out of the draft and attempt to pass only to be slowed by a strong gust of wind in their face. The trick to pulling out of the draft is to create some space in front of you by backing off the wheel you are following, then accelerating at the wheel and through the draft before pulling out. This way, you have already accelerated to a velocity greater than the rider you are following and can "rocket" past him/her. This is known as "running at the wheel."

Making a run can be practiced with a drill called "lead outs." Lead-outs are mock sprints performed when one or more riders will lead out others in a paceline configuration. The point is for the lead rider to pull the other riders along as hard as possible. It is helpful to have a final destination to sprint to. While the leader attempts to drop or at least hold off others, the trailing riders will attempt to run at the person in front of them, pass them, and beat them to the line. Timing is critical. If there are more than two riders, the drill can become more complicated. Not only do you have to time a run at the guy in front, but you have to react to runs from behind. With several riders, this closely resembles a final sprint of a race. Each time the drill is done, it can be a little different.

Performing lead-outs can not only teach you to sprint through a draft, but can develop accelerative power and a reactive sense of sprinting in a race situation. It will also give you a chance to work with your teammates on team tactics for sprinting. Keep in mind that it is not always the strongest rider who wins the race, but often the smartest."

Second, you have developed a quick first step
Okay, so you bolted past the rider in front of you. Congratulations. Now what is to prevent the rider behind you from coming by you? A couple of things, most importantly, the fact that you have developed a quick first step. Like a basketball player going one-on-one against a defender, you want not only to go fast, but to be able to get to your top speed as quickly as possible. This creates a gap between you and the rider behind you, which in turn reduces the amount s/he can draft off of you. Your chaser can stay on your wheel (and come around you) more easily if you gradually wind up your speed, than if you seem to press a button and rocket ahead. By developing good form, strength and attitude for sprinting, you can ensure that when you put it in gear, your opponents won't be able to respond without equal effort.

Good Form
Good form has several components. Your hands are in the drops, tucked up under the brake hoods. With each pedal stroke, you are pulling straight back on the bars. Your elbows are out slightly, to protect your handlebars from any riders beside you. Your torso is firm, and with each pedal stroke, your stomach muscles are contracting, transferring energy to your legs, and keeping your bike relatively upright. As you start your sprint, you are in the saddle, but over the course of your sprint you may rise a few inches out of it. You are looking straight ahead at the finish line. As always, you are applying power perpendicular to the cranks throughout the pedal stroke. However at the outset of your sprint, as a mnemonic to help you achieve maximum acceleration, you are thinking about pedaling squares: straight down, straight back, straight up, and straight over the top. You want to be in a gear in which you can achieve good acceleration at the low end, but in which you don't spin out at the high end. In a crit or other race in which you pass through the start/finish several times prior to finishing, you can practice your sprint to determine your optimal gear for the finish. Obviously, the faster you can spin, the easier a gear you can start in. Do not plan on changing gears during a sprint, even if your bike is equipped with STI/Ergopower.

Good Strength
Because sprinting requires both top speed and top acceleration, there is no denying the value of strength building exercises, both in the weight room and on the bike. In the weight room, exercises that develop maximum power generally focus on sets of low reps and high weights for each of the major muscle groups in your legs. In addition, don't forget crunches for your stomach, and pulling exercises such as upright rows and lat pulldowns for your arms and torso.

On the bike, you can work on form sprints with your teammates: find a straight road with a good set of phone poles (e.g. Winter Street on the west side of the reservoir on the short-reservoir loop), agree on a gear (e.g. 53x17) and then sprint from one phone pole to the next, recover to the next pole, and repeat over the length of the road.

Ross Fleischman recommends another on the bike exercise: "A good jump training exercise which Ed showed me is to get riding along, hands in the drops in the gear in which you are going to make the sprint. I'll then jump out of the saddle and ride ten pedal strokes at absolute maximum power, pulling on the bars and using my whole body for maximum acceleration. After just ten strokes sit down and spin easily until the next one. Training your jump is as much about developing coordination as strength, and a well rehearsed set of moves will give you the explosive acceleration to stay at the front when the sprint comes. Without it, you'll find yourself getting trapped or towing slower sprinters across the finish line with you. With it, you'll be at the front for those last agonizing seconds when all you can do is spin like there's no tomorrow."

Good Attitude
Sprinting is another area of cycling where mental toughness counts. Sprinting requires maximum output over a relatively short period of time, and your ability to sustain highest output for 15 seconds rather than 10 seconds, or 16 seconds rather than 15, may be the difference between finishing first and finishing off the podium. When you go, you want to know that there is no way someone is going to come around you for the win.

Third, you use sprint dynamics to your advantage
Understanding the dynamics of a sprint is THE key to placing well. Naturally, if a bunch of racers are 200 meters from the finish, each with a legitimate chance of winning, they tend to be a nervous, excitable group. How can you maximize your chances that you cross the line first?

Know your teammates
First, you improve your chances if your teammates are working for you. Before each race, you should talk with the teammates with whom you will be racing. Make sure you cover the nature of the course (hilly? tough corners? choppy pavement? mountaintop finish?), your respective strengths and weaknesses (good climber, good sprinter, good lead-out rider?), and your team's tactics for the race. An important issue is who is going to be sprinting for the finish. If that person is you, everyone else should devote his or her energies to your success.

You should save your legs for the sprint by doing as little work as possible in the race. If you expect a mass finish, let others cover breaks, work on the uphills, and drive the pace. You should sit in, conserving your energy for the sprint. Second, you should organize your team for the finish. You should agree on a plan as to how the lead out will work (teammates in front of you to launch you to the finish? a dummy behind you to protect your wheel?). You should prepare for the finish well in advance: anywhere from 2 to 5 kilometers beforehand, the team should gather itself in the pack, organize and prepare to execute. This may consist of lining up in the leadout order, and then moving up through or around the pack to be at the front when the time comes. Ideally, the team will be perfectly positioned to perfectly position you for a sprint. Obviously this takes awareness of each others' abilities (exactly how far can you sprint?), good communication, and practice.

Know the wheels in the race
Over the course of the race season, you may get a sense of who are the strong riders and teams in your category. You want to be aware of them at all times during the race, and the sprint is no exception. Being on the right wheel is key to winning, and it is your responsibility to make the right decision. If your team's strategy was to lead you out for the sprint, but you think you have a better chance getting on someone else's wheel, do what you think maximizes your chances to win. Winning cycling is all about opportunistically taking advantage of others' hard work, and sprinting is another permutation on this game of cat and mouse.

Know the race course
You should ride through the last several kilometers before the race so that you know what to expect. Downhill sprint? Be prepared to go earlier than usual. Headwind? Go later. Corners? The pack will get strung out and it will be tough for people to stay on wheels: maybe you want to attack before the final corner. All sorts of variables will affect the final sprint.

Again, Ross has some experience here: "I make preparing for the sprint part of my pre-race routine. By the time the last lap comes, I am a slobbering idiot and my brain is of no use to me, so I try to make a plan beforehand. It's also very hard to communicate with your teammates in the last lap of the race. Some of my considerations are:

1. What gear I want to be in at the finish.

2. Where I want to make my jump for the all-out finishing sprint. I'll pick an object on the side of the road which tells me when to go. 200 yards is usually a good distance, but it can be farther if the finish is downhill or downwind. I try to jump as early as possible so that I am still at maximum speed when I cross the line. If I start to fade and slow down before I reach the line, I know that I jumped too early.

3. At what point do I want my lead out person (or persons) to start pulling at maximum. 500 yards? 1/2 a lap? The second to last corner? The more people in your leadout train, the more important it is to make a plan.

4. Which side of the course do I want to sprint from to have the clearest lane to the finish and to block out other riders? What are the features of the course that my leadouts and I can use to get to the front of the pack and pass people? Are there obstacles in the course that could mess us (or other teams) up? You may not have much contact with your teammates during the race, so having a pre-arranged meeting place for the leadout will enable you to get together in time for finish.

Thinking about these things as part of your pre-race plan will enable you to execute a successful sprint when the time comes. Contrary to popular opinion, successful sprinting has very little to do with the size of your thighs, and everything to do with how well your team can make and execute its plan."

Last and most importantly, know and have confidence in yourself You should know exactly when you expect to start your sprint, and not go earlier. Impatience is the sign of an inexperienced rider. We all make the mistake of getting panicked and nervous as we approach the finish, revving up and sprinting too early. The winner will most likely be patient: not going until s/he knows it is the right time.

Sprinting is a combination of strength, smarts and teamwork. You may know cold the physical aspects of sprinting, but without a good sense of strategy, and a strong belief that you will win -- you've already lost. The best way to improve is to contest sprints as often as possible -- town lines on training rides, in practice races, and in the real thing. Good luck.

Some important additions from Ed Sassler
Just a thing or two to add. Most of the people visiting this site are going to be doing road cycling which differs a lot from track riding in a few key ways. First, there’s traffic - all those other people on the road that you’re trying to beat. The lead out person is the last in a string of people who are all trying to get the sprinter across the line first. It all starts with the team members who’s job it is to get the sprinter up to the front. When the front starts getting crowded the last thing you want is for your sprinter to be moving to the outside on his/her own and wasting a lot of energy while pulling other riders in their draft. That’s where somebody who is at ease with riding in a large group is what you need. Some people can just make their own holes in the field and pull the sprinter to the front fresh as when the race started - that’s where the winning sprint starts.

The second thing it that you need to be honest with yourself as the race progresses. Some days you have it, some days you don’t. If you’re the sprinter having a bad day the team needs to know this so somebody else can sit on the train and go for the win. Same thing goes for the whole team, it’s a chain of events that gets your sprinter to the front before anyone else, you need to eliminate any broken links.
The last thing isn’t about sprinting ‘cept for the fact that it can increase your chances at winning. Hill climbing and sprinting don’t always go together. Sprinters tend to have sudden burst power while climbers have a good power to weight ratio. An attack on a hill at the end of a race can eliminate those who are the biggest danger in the sprint. It’s a gamble and a trade off, you’re expending energy too early but it can mean a higher place.