Is Your Sprint Weak?

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Is Your Sprint Weak? (Introduction)

You arrive at the end of a criterium or road race and do not finish well.
Or riders jump at the top of hills or before other obstacles in a race, and you cannot respond.

The bottom line is that not all weak sprinters have a weak sprint.

Check out your sprint fitness by comparing your measured performance against top sprinters in your category as shown in the Table below.

Where a professional sprinter might develop a peak power of more than 2,000 watts of energy, and a Category 3 sprinter about 1,500 watts, only 750 watts may be required to win a Cat 3 road race when the riders arrive fatigued.

Many riders consistently and routinely sabotage their efforts before the finale by wearing themselves out prematurely.

Savvy, relatively-weak sprinters may win many races through two basic tactics:

1. Saving their own energy

2. Wasting others’ energy

 

Website and materials copyright Arnie Baker, MD, 1989-2010 http://arniebakercycling.com/ http://arniebakercycling.info/