colnago62

I was at a local criterium watching the cat 3 race. The winner was a junior rider who was out on a solo break for 40 minutes and was brought back with about 4 laps to go. He won it with junior gears from a field sprint. There were several teams in the field. The finish was around 150-200 meters from the final corner, slightly uphill. The field came out of the final and it was pretty much a drag race after that. From my perspective if somebody got a lead out or just sat on a wheel for a moment before launching, there would have been a different winner. Timing is so hard to learn.

Hermes

I am not a mass start racer per se although I have done both road and track. With respect to learning how to sprint, when I attend velodrome sessions with my coach, he does a certain amount of lead out drills where we divide up into small groups and lead out each other and practice coming around. This builds both technique and short term power.

Radish_legs

One of the Williams brothers has talked about how he practices his sprint on group rides. Yes, it's a art. And yes, it should be practiced.

Doge

Generally the junior has the advantage on an incline if speeds are below 35, maybe 40 mph. They are lighter and have more punch and very high W/kg. A 40+ mph sprint is very hard on junior gears. Which is why the winners are generally in bigger than a 52X14.