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The TMT of Sprinting by Joe Friel and Eddie Monnier (shortened version published in Velonews
May 2003) |
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We think of three key aspects
related to sprinting: the ‘tude, the motor and the tactics or what we
collectively call the TMT of Sprinting. The ‘tude Most really good field sprinters have
a mentality for sprinting. It’s a sort of “speed demon, take no prisoners,
I’d rather go down than lose” attitude. If thinking about flying through
corners elbow-to-elbow during the last few laps of a criterium or jostling
for position among the pack at the end of a road race makes you shudder with
fear, then you probably won’t succeed in contesting mass sprints unless you
reprogram how you think about them. If you’ve never been near the front at
the end of race, you may be surprised to find that it’s usually less dicey
than being further back where you’re at the mercy of the “accordion effect.” But even if you don’t fancy yourself a
“crit monger” or field sprint specialist, that’s no excuse to forego sprint
training. As pointed out earlier, sprinting plays an important role in deciding
who from a breakaway group stands atop the podium, in attacking, in bridging
gaps, etc. And if sprinting is not a natural strength for you, all the more
reason to focus on it in your training. Like the old adage says, “Train your
weaknesses, race your strengths.” But you work on your strengths, too, even
if it’s only right before your highest priority events. Designated sprinter
Kevin Monahan of team 7-Up/Maxxis continually works on his sprinting and
it has paid big dividends – including the 2002 US Pro Criterium championship. The
Motor Many cyclists characterize themselves
as either sprinters or climbers. Certainly, there are physiological
traits that suggest one’s ultimate potential for sprinting. One of these
traits is fiber type. There are two primary categories of muscle fiber
types that are identified by their contractile and metabolic properties.
(Recent advances in physiology have identified multiple
sub-types within each major category, but that’s beyond the scope of
this article.) So called fast-twitch fibers, also
known as Type II fibers, can contract very quickly and very forcefully but
have low aerobic capacity relative to slow-twitch (also known as Type I)
fibers. In other words, fast-twitch fibers can generate a lot of power but
they fatigue quickly. Truly great sprinters are born with a greater number
of Type II fast-twitch muscle fibers than the typical endurance cyclist.
While it does appear that training can transform fibers from one subtype
within a primary fiber type (e.g., Type IIa, IIb, etc.), the jury is still
out on whether or not fibers can be changed from one primary type to another
(e.g., from slow-twitch to fast-twitch). But if you’re a slow-twitch type,
read on before you resign yourself to not working on your sprint. The energy system fueling your muscles
during an all-out sprint is predominantly the Creatine Phosphate (CP) system
(also referred to as the alactic or phosphocreatine system). While the CP
system can provide a large amount of energy to the muscle within a short
period of time, it is substantially exhausted in about 10 seconds. This causes
your muscles to become fatigued and forces you to reduce the intensity. It
can take several minutes to fully replenish itself, which is why we generally
prescribe 3-5 minutes between sprint efforts in training. While sprint training
will never turn a “Marco Pantani” into a “Mario Cipollini,” stressing the
CP system will help you sprint faster and longer because it increases the
amount of CP stored in the muscles and may also improve performance of the
enzymes associated with the CP system. You can sprint faster either by pedaling
a larger gear at the same cadence, pedaling the same gear at a faster cadence,
or some combination thereof. There are two primary components of the sprint:
the jump and the wind-up. The jump is the initial acceleration to get up
to speed and “on top of” of the gear. It is normally done out of the saddle.
After the jump, it’s usually best to sit down and accelerate to the line. Make sure you get a thorough warm up before
engaging in any jump or sprint training. Part of your warm-up should include
a few small gear (e.g., 39 x 16) efforts. There are two primary types of
jumps in training: power jumps and speed jumps. While both train
the PC system, the former are done in a large gear (e.g., 53 x 12-14) from
a slow starting speed to build strength. Speed jumps are done from race pace. Appropriate
gearing will depend on terrain and starting speed. Practice jumps with various
gear combinations and different terrains so in race situations you select
the optimal gear. Being over or under geared will leave you far behind the
competition very early in the sprint. You should also practice jumping out
of corners as this is a necessary component of criterium racing. When you do jumps in training, they should
last about five seconds. Recover one to two minutes between efforts.
Do two to four sets of five efforts. Recover
five minutes between sets. Jumps can easily be incorporated into endurance
rides alone or with a coordinated group. Take turns spontaneously initiating
a jump and have the other riders respond. Besides working on your jump, you need
to train the full sprint as well. These are maximum efforts lasting 10 to
20 seconds and can be done alone or with a group. It’s important to do these
at race speed so you become accustomed to handling your bike at high speeds.
If done alone, it’s helpful to find a short hill followed by a mostly flat
section that you use to launch you up to speed. Many group rides have designated
sprint areas. This can be a good opportunity to try out different tactics.
Whether you sprint alone or with a group, allow at least three minutes between
efforts and it’s fine to spread them out even farther. You can dedicate an
entire workout to sprint training or you can sprinkle them among your group
and endurance rides throughout the week. If doing a dedicated sprint workout,
you probably want to limit the number of efforts to the lower of 8 to10 efforts
or when your speed (or power) trails off dramatically. If you have a powermeter such as an SRM
or Power-Tap, then you have a great tool for analyzing sprint training.
Because an all-out sprint requires both hands in the drops, you will
not be able to hit the interval button precisely at the start and finish.
Check with your software on how to edit the file after the fact so you
can de-mark the marked values before and after the actual sprint. You
can then examine the maximal and average wattage for the Tactics You know very well that the most powerful
sprinter doesn’t always win. And even when he or she does, it’s often because
he or she also capitalized on good tactics. Good tactics start with assessing
the finishing line. If there’s a corner within a kilometer of the finish
line, survey it prior to the start of your event. Examine the camber of the
turn, look for gravel, debris and road imperfections, note which way the
wind is blowing, assess the distance to the finish line. Do the same for
the finish line area. If your team is planning a lead out, designate roles
and who pulls where. These should all factor into determining your ideal
line as well as alternates if you cannot take your preferred line. Use your knowledge from sprint training
to guide your race strategy. For example, if you know you have an amazing
“pop” but cannot sustain it for very long, then you want to stay out of the
wind until about 100 meters to go. Similarly, if you can sustain a long sprint
but don’t have a lot of top-end, you may be best to go early. Just make sure
the guy with the big pop isn’t on your wheel. And if you know you’re the
worst sprinter in the lot, then you might want to take an early flyer. Although he works hard on his sprinting,
Monahan stresses the relative importance of positioning, “Successful sprinting
is 90-percent position, 5-percent tactics and 5-percent motor.” Think of
any race as two races. The first race is to the point from which you will
launch your sprint and the second is to the finish line. Only if you’re well
positioned in the first race -- usually top three if it’s 250 meters or less
to the finish line from the final corner -- do you have a chance of winning
the overall race. You simply cannot pass many people when the pack is flat
out. Monahan recommends, “When in doubt, lead it out.” Contesting primes in criteriums is a great
way to gain sprinting experience and can be used to test out your intended
finishing strategy for a particular race. If you plan to contest the finish,
you generally don’t want to go for a prime in the last 10 minutes. |