The ECCC's "Ask A Pro" Forum

Here is a forum where riders can ask questions of experienced pros - no question too basic or too advanced! Email your questions to amyw[at]alum.dartmouth.org.

Dear Amy -

I was racing last weekend and was feeling great coming into the finish. I thought I had the race as good as won. But when I started to sprint, everyone else just blew past me and I didn't know how they did it. You're such a good sprinter, what should I do next time?

Sincerely,
Left in the dust.

Amy Wallace, 2005 ECCC Champion, Responds:
Dear Dusty,

Knowing how and when to sprint is a difficult thing to learn, and for the most part it just takes a lot of racing experience to get good at it! There are a few things that are important to remember which may help you:

  1. Sprint in your drops! The "drops" of your handlebars are the lowest position, where you have your hands down in the curve of the handlebars. Being in this position is a very good for efficient power transfer to your pedals, and is also a very stable position in case you get bumped.
  2. Don't start your sprint too early. You can really only keep up your maximum power in a sprint for 8-12 seconds. So assuming you get yourself up to 30mph for those 10 seconds, that's about 150 yards from the line that you should start your sprint. The other thing to do to ensure you don't start sprinting too early is to wait for someone else to go and just hop on their wheel.
  3. Get on the wheel of somebody fast! You are racing with the same people every weekend. Get to know your competitors, figure out who is a good sprinter, and make a point of being on their wheel going into a sprint. Understanding the concept of the "lead out" is key to becoming a good sprinter. Whether the lead out is from a teammate of yours who intentionally leads you out (by riding hard / starting their sprint on the stretch immediately before you want to come around them and start your sprint) of if you hop on the wheel of somebody who starts their sprint too early, being in the draft of someone while you ramp up your speed will help you conserve critical energy before the finish.
  4. Very basic, but very important advice from international bike racing U23 National Team star UVM graduate Keith Jennings, directed mostly at you Women's B racers - GET IN YOUR BIG RING AND STAND UP!! Sitting and spinning as fast as you can in your little ring is no way to finish a crit!! Ramp up your speed, get into the big ring, then stand up and mash those pedals!! Seriously! This is the end of a race, so give it all you have! I mean, you don't want to be fighting the bike at a cadence of 50 rpm or anything, but choose an appropriate gear that you can push hard and fast for 8-12 seconds.
  5. Positioning. We've already talked about being on the wheel of somebody fast. To say a little more about positioning there are a few important things to know about where you should be in the final lap going into the finish. One, don't be sitting on the front! If you want to get near the front but everything is too bunched up, have a teammate attack to bring up the pace and string out the pack. No teammate? Pretend to launch an attack yourself by jumping up and sprinting for 2-3 seconds, and hope that somebody blows by you to chase you down and just keeps the pace up, and hop on their wheel. And, obviously, you don't want to position yourself way in the back of the pack going into the last lap. In a crit, you should treat each lap (especially prime laps!) as practice for the final lap - learn the best line through corners, figure out good locations on the course that are easy to move up / change your position on, practice sitting in a good position in the pack towards the front, and figure out where on the finishing straight is a good place to start your sprint.
  6. Don't crash - several ways to prevent this! One, don't cut anyone off, and don't let yourself be cut off. Everyone is frantic in a sprint, but don't be dumb. Two, don't jump so hard that you unclip from your pedals. Make sure that your cleats aren't so worn down that they will unclip too easily. If this ever happens to you on a training ride, you can be sure your feet will come unclipped in a sprint. Cleats are cheap - replace them!! And three, don't crash after the finish line... you are still moving on your bike! Keep moving in a straight line, keep your hands on your bars, and be aware of everyone else still around you.
  7. Most importantly - never celebrate before the line. Not convinced? Ask these guys:
    Erik Zabel/Milan-San Remo: http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/5740.0.html
    Wisconsin nationals 2004: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~cycle/racing04.html
  8. OK, even more importantly - practice. Try practicing a few sprints out on training rides once during the week. High gear, pedal fast, stand up and go for it. Town line sprints, play the speed limit game, whatever. Just go for it. Get online and watch some sprinting videos on http://cycling.tv/.

Amy