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Cycling sprint technique

Cycling / Popular

Position, gear and cadence for a road sprint.

What coaches agree on

  • Get low and aerodynamic on the bike - bend your elbows in, flatten your back, and grip the drops rather than the hoods - to cut wind resistance and put more power through the pedals.
  • Pick your gear before you commit to the sprint, favoring something light enough to accelerate and spin up to a high cadence rather than grinding a huge gear from a standing start.
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  • Brace your core against the bars and drive with your whole body - pull with the opposite arm as you push down with each leg - so the bike rocks beneath a stable torso instead of your legs working alone.
  • Shelter near the front of the group and stay in the wheels for as long as you can before you sprint, to save your energy for the finish.

Common mistakes

  • Launching the sprint too early and fading before the line, letting rivals come past you in the final meters.
3 Steps to Improve your Sprint
Intermediate

3 Steps to Improve your Sprint

Coach's take: Clean technical breakdown with cues you can actually feel for — push-pull, drops not hoods, tuck low. Good one.

3.5
Caleb Ewan's unique sprinting style
Advanced

Caleb Ewan's unique sprinting style

Coach's take: Good insight into elite sprint position, but it's an interview, not a lesson — don't buy the 'born not made' line.

2.3