Cycling Training

How to Sprint Like Freight Train – Part 2

As we covered previously, we break sprinting down into five essential elements:

P – Positioning
A – Awareness
T – Timing
A – Acceleration
S – Speed

Last week we covered positioning. This week, we’re looking at awareness.

The awareness of where you are positioned and where your competitors are, is an important focus as you are approaching the closing stages of a race. By now you should know that being behind a rider reduces your work load by 30-40 %. When you position yourself on a good wheel or another good sprinter, you get a much easier ride to the line.

By identifying and following fast sprinters, you can take advantage of their positioning. This will also allow you to follow them through gaps and stay in the draft protected area until you are ready to accelerate past them.

Even if you have minimal speed, acceleration and timing but are aware of the fastest wheel in the race, position yourself on it and hold that wheel over the line and you will run a place. By positioning yourself well you can have very good results sprinting when your speed or acceleration are lacking.

Awareness of your environment is also crucial for your positioning. A large bunch will require that you are positioned close to the front of the bunch in order to be competitive. Being positioned too far back in a big bunch sprint will require larger amounts of speed and acceleration to make up lost ground. The further back you are in a bigger bunch will also mean you run the risk of being boxed in and surrounded by riders with no where to go.

A small bunch requires a sharper perception of where you are in relation to other riders and the finish line. Anticipating what other riders are doing is very important in small bunch sprints. These types of sprints are common and when a small group approaches the line it becomes very unpredictable as riders will try to control the situation to suit their abilities.

Riders who are not confident in their sprint ability will try to escape the bunch before the sprint starts and get to the line solo, escaping the clutches of the pure sprinters. Stronger riders will prefer a longer, faster, drawn out drag race sprint as their strength is played out to their advantage to wear down others with their explosive acceleration.

Those riders with explosive acceleration want a controlled, slow, cat and mouse type lead up to the line. This means they want a short, fast sprint to the line utilising their explosive power which the others riders cannot match.

It is important to identify these types of riders and become aware of the situation, anticipating their moves. Staying alert, aware and knowing your weaknesses will help you manipulate the situation to your advantage.

Environmental Awareness

Wind plays an important environmental consideration when sprinting. Being aware of wind direction can and will play an important role in the dynamic of the sprint. It is important to be familiar with how wind affects bunches and sprint dynamics.

Tail winds will typically influence sprints so that they start earlier and hold higher speeds for longer, with multiple changes at the front. They tend to be messier affairs with riders coming off the wheel earlier than normally expected.

To position yourself and give you the best advantage in tailwinds, remember that you need more time and distance to come around a rider to get in front of them before the line. You will also need to be aware of what gear you are in. Select a bigger gear as the top speed will be higher and sustained for longer.

Awareness of your position in the bunch is very important in the chaos of a large, bunch, tailwind sprint. It would be wise to be positioned close to the front, constantly fighting to maintain clear passage and allow more time to pass and accelerate past riders in front. Remember, the wind resistance at the front in these types of conditions is a lot less than other winds and may allow riders with less strength the ability to stay on the front longer.

Head winds will work to your advantage if you remember to stay behind the wheel and out of the wind. Start your sprint as late as you can as riders in the wind will tire very quickly. Be aware that in a head wind sprint, wheel selection will be very important and may even require repositioning as riders in the wind will change frequently. These riders will be coming back through the bunch at a much slower speed than those behind and it is important to be aware that it is easy to get swamped in these types of winds. Try to select a wheel that will not lead out too early and leave you searching for a new wheel or worse, one that leaves you on the front too early.

Head wind sprints will usually start a lot later, but be aware that some riders may get antsy and start it earlier than necessary. Be patient, capitalise on their mistakes and stay out of the wind till the last minute.

A great tip to keep in mind for your run at the finish line in a head wind sprint is this. Drift back off the wheel in front of you by a length or so and accelerate behind the wheel of the rider in front, gaining all your speed and momentum in the protection of the rider before you flick out around the rider at the last minute. You will be carrying all your speed into the wind and holding a higher speed than those in front in the head wind.

This is one that works well as it is very difficult to accelerate into a head wind efficiently and by drifting back and staying in the shelter of the wheel, you can get on top of a much bigger gear than normally possible. Stay aware of the differing speeds of riders in head winds sprints and position yourself on waves on riders that are moving ahead through the bunch rather than on their way back tired and worn out. Head wind and uphill sprints require the most awareness out of all of the types of environment you will come across.

Very rarely will the wind be directly a tailwind or headwind. Most of the time the wind will be coming from the side direction. If the wind is a cross head wind, or cross tail wind apply the above mentioned techniques to the following.

Stay positioned to the side of the rider opposite the winds direction. Pass on the same side, the side opposite the direction the wind is coming from. During cross winds it is easy to find yourself boxed in or running out of road as the natural direction of the bunch is to veer toward the side of the road opposite the winds direction.

Position yourself a lot closer to the front than you normally would in these types of cross wind situations and use the road and wind direction to make other riders work harder to come past in the wind.

Down hill sprints are also tricky customers to negotiate and will require you to use some different tactics. While similar in speed to the tailwind sprints, high speed and longer hit outs by single riders wind will play an important factor. Avoid the temptation to come off the wheel early, be patient and use the shelter of other riders to your advantage. Follow wheels for as long as you can and try to stay sheltered while you wind up the speed required.

Up hill sprints are all about power. Wind will play a small part, but the idea here is to hit out wide off the wheel earlier than usual and as close to the front as you can. If you don’t have the power, you will not win but by being at the front you may stop riders from behind coming around as they will need even more power to make it to the front. They will more than likely get boxed in during this type of sprint.