Training & Nutrition - End of race sprint

Wondering about the energy needed at end of race to compete for sprint finish.Ive noticed quiet a few times last season, that I was around in the front of the field, contesting for the sprint, but had nothing left in the legs.

I am not the worst sprinter in the world, but cannot seem to get up to max speed after few hours of racing.I wondering if this is matter of doing shorter intervals, so that I can recover?or more endurance?

Doing shorter intervals won't train your body to recover faster -- doing intervals (regardless of length) with INADEQUATE rest between them will help in quickening recovery. Try having one day a week with 4 to 5 repeats of 3 - 5 minutes (ALL OUT, don't worry about HR) with the same amount of recovery as the duration of the interval. Considering that these intervals are done at well above your threshold, the rest time will not be enough to recover fully. Don't worry that for the last two or so intervals you aren't as fast as at the begining. What you're training is your body's ability to bufffer lactic acid, and thus it's repeatability of hard efforts.

If your too tired at the end of a race to put out the sprint that you know that your capable of, then you need to work on not just your endurance (how long you can ride) and strength, but also your aerobic engine. Train for aerobic strength by doing TEMPO intervals at about 75% MAX HR. Assuming you're already in pretty good shape, you can start with two intervals of 20 minutes with 30 min rest in between. Do this twice a week.

After a few weeks with the above, I reccommend working up to: one of your TEMPO workout days to two 35 minute intervals with 30 minutes rest, and the other TEMPO workout day to just one 60 minute interval.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

- Don't have more than three interval days a week, two if you are racing on weekends.

- Don't have all three interval days in a row.

- If you do choose to have two of your interval days in a row, just don't make them BOTH your TEMPO days.

- If you are lifting weights, I suggest doing that on TEMPO days, and only riding as long as is necessary to do the intervals.

Hope all this helps,

Maurizio

Are you staying off of the front? The sprint specialists are keeping their noses out of the wind and saving it for the end.

I've seen lots of guys do heroic pulls at the front (I love those guys) and then not be able to contest in the final sprint.

If your strength is sprinting by all means stay out of the wind. You want to win with what you do best.

A good way to practice your sprints is to do a fast group ride where yellow signs (or town lines or whatever) are worth points. Practice your tactics. Find out how much pop you have and how far out you can hold it. Some can ramp it up and hold it to the line others do best coming around at the last possible second.