Does Gym Strength Matter in Match Sprinting?
 

please link to this discussion in the 41 so that we can read it and chuckle about how wrong they are.

gym strength matters. it's not the only thing that matters, and yes, people can get pretty fast without hitting the gym. But the people who get the fastest do some really focused work in the gym. Wonder why that is?

edit: oh, you asked why.
because it requires a lot of strength to push on the pedals hard enough to go 45mph.

My younger brother can squat 3 times the weight that I can, but he's never come close to beating me in a sprint.

I suppose weight training can augment cycling performance, and I can't see it harming the rider's performance. But there is a whole lot more going on with fast sprinters than just pure brute strength.

Here you go QP: https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycl...gth-speed.html

It's turned pretty ridiculous.

And to clarify, I don't think most of the people in those threads understand the difference between track sprinting and road sprinting; e.g. they would probably assume Cavendish is a track sprinter too.

halfway there

wait... halfway to getting dropped... looks like the only way I'm going to see the front is on the derny.

Strength no, since you can be a fat tub of lard and be strong. Fast-twitch, however, does matter, but its the strength-to-weight ratio (that guy that's half your size but just as strong) that wins the race.

Nope, nobody in elite sprinting does any kind of the power:weight optimization that road cyclists do, or even talks about power:weight at all. They optimize power:aerodynamics, though, because at the speeds we're talking about, weight is insignificant and adding weight to gain power will make you make more speed.

That being said, I would bet that there are very few elite sprinters north of 120-30kg. At that weight the power gains are probably outweighed by the aerodynamic losses.

Exactly.

Chis Hoy and Mark Cavendish were on the same British National Team. At one point, Cav was declared "The Fastest Man in the World"...and couldn't hold Hoy's jock strap in track sprint events...and vice/versa in road events.

https://media.giphy.com/media/KHw2Oi9NNAxmo/giphy.gif

Sorry, couldn't resist. I've weight lifted for years, but as a well-being effort vice any targeted goals. I feel like it helps my riding and other physical activities. Now over 60, I'm still at it, but listen to my body more...no point in permanent injury. A good read, with regards to how our bodies combine muscular and fascia efforts (couched in laymen terms) is Chris McDougall's "Natural Born Heroes". He also authored "Born to Run". Enjoy!

No one cares about him anyways. He's a match sprinter. There have been many riders who have made the transition to the road with far more success.

goodness, what a dumpster fire.

Off the top of my head, Patrick Sercu,Urs Freuler, Guido Bontempi, Danny Clark were all considered to be good track sprinters who ended up doing well on the road.

These days I think it's becoming more difficult. But if Wiggins could win the Tour, I don't see why a track sprinter couldn't somehow transition into a somewhat decent road sprinter.

Anyone looked at this? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27068517

Yeah, the "41" is like that. Which is why the the "33" don't play that "Armchair cyclist Fred" stuff: https://www.bikeforums.net/33-road-bike-racing/


For the newer people: In a much older version of BikeForums, the sub-forums had unique numbers in the URLs. 41: General road cycling. 33: Road racing. I can't remember what this sub-forum's number was.

So, the nickname, "the 41" is faster than typing "Road Cycling" and everyone knew what you meant.

W/kg is important when climbing (anything from false-flats to mountains).

As QP notes, W/CdA is important for max speed.

w/kg matters for acceleration, though. ...but bigger people also get a bigger benefit from dropping down the banking. but for most sprint events, top speed is what wins most of the time.

You're kidding me, that never used to happen in previous Tours. :D

The W/CdA over W/kg for track sprinting makes sense and as mentioned by s.fox weight does affect acceleration. But, in reality most pro level track sprinters are very lean and weigh 95kg at the high end. A few outliers from a search are Hoogland and Bague. Glaetzer is 6' 3" and competed at 86kg in 2016, 94kg in 2018. You can't look at these numbers and say they don't care about weight at all, it takes a lot of effort and good nutrition to be as strong as they are and not end up 10kg heavier. A good level of weight and strength is something I am still trying to figure out for myself.

The argument could be made that the majority of track sprinters are 5'11"ish, but the only heavy one under 6' is Forstemann.

A neat reference site for olympics: https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/
2018 data: https://results.gc2018.com/en/all-sports/athletes.htm

I would venture to guess that Glaetzer's W/CdA is one of the top if not the top in all of track cycling.

From the 1st link that jfiveeight posted above:

Height: 6'2.5" (190 cm)
Weight: 190 lbs (86 kg)

My estimate of his max wattage: 23,000 - 2,500W
CdA: ?