Originally Posted by
TejanoTrackie
Neat old video. Match sprint strategy has changed a lot over the last 20 years. Today, you don't see a lot of track standing and slow riding. Riders at the world pro level run monster gears and it's often a drag race right from the start. Even at my amateur master's national championships I didn't see any track stands and the sprints began long before the 200m to go mark. Gym work is critical in sprinter training, and those guys probably spent more time training in the gym than they did on the bike.
+1
Originally Posted by
squeegeesunny
any track cyclists, can you please explain to me why they start out so slow? and why the guy trackstanded in order to get behind the other guy?
The reason is that in events at this level, the athletes are very evenly matched, so every advantage helps tremendously. When the riders aren't evenly matched, strategy and front/back position don't matter much if at all. 99% of the time guy with the most horse power will win. When they are evenly matched, the point is the get to the rear in order to benefit from the draft of the front rider which saves the rear rider something like 20-30% of his energy during the final sprint. This means that the front guy maybe be churning at 100% and the rear guy 70-80% and they are both going 40MPH. That's how the guy in the rear has a bit more juice at the end to step out into the wind and come around at the last 1/2 lap. That's the general plan anyway.
Aerodynamics are *really* influential once the riders get over 30MPH. For a quick example: When in a car driving around 30+ MPH put your hand a few inches behind the mirror, then lift it out and see how the wind affects it...even with fingers open or closed.
Originally Posted by
xkillemallx16
they stay behind because when you are in front the other person can easily make a sneak attack from your side without you expecting it.
This is sort of true. But a well trained athlete can watch you from the front at all times.