There's a difference being a good sprinter (results), a fast sprinter (top speed), and having a good jump (acceleration).
In races, in the spring when folks aren't in great shape, I'm a reasonably good "sprinter". I use both field positioning and my sprint to place, and I use my jump to gain advantage. When the summer gets on, I'm a pretty poor sprinter. I rely totally on positioning. My jump is nonexistent - it's more like a "continuation of pace" rather than a sprint. My sprint is not much better than my jump. This is because everyone else is much stronger.
I used to be much faster as a sprinter, but I didn't do well because I wasn't positioning myself well. Now, at 4-8 mph slower, I place better, but barely. In the old days I'd win hotly contested sprints by many meters - often I'd worry I sprinted on the wrong lap, or for the wrong line. Now I'm throwing the bike at the line, looking for every centimeter, even in spring races.
My jump hasn't changed much. It's lost its edge but I can't quantify it. I no longer gain 2-3 lengths in the first few pedal strokes of a jump, but it could be a combination of other things (relative to my opposition I used aero wheels, used extremely light rotating parts, and I believe this made a difference in my jump + top speed).
My positioning in the field is better than it used to be, but it hasn't changed much in the last 15 years.
Some thoughts:
- 3 guys on same team, if one is a better "positioner", then the other two ought to follow that one, esp if the others have better sprints.
- You can't really improve jump. Not substantially. Peak wattage doesn't change dramatically. A 900 watt jump won't double easily, and my 1500+ peak jumps won't turn into a 2000 or 2500 watt jump any time soon.
- You can work on top speed. That's how you kill guys with a good jump.
- Aero matters. I was going substantially faster in a semi-decent experiment where I used multiple wheels over a period of 2-3 hours. I saw a 6 mph spread across the different wheels. That's significant, even if my structure wasn't extremely scientific. I repeated wheelsets and got the same results through the test (that was my "wind effect check" as well as my "tired legs check").
cdr