A sprint is not a race against the clock - all that matters is who crosses the finish line first. So you put all your effort into achieving that goal. That means manoeuvring your opponent in front of you so (a) you can see him and what he does, (b) you can use his slipstream, and (c) if he attacks he will tire first. The man at the back has all the aces. You *can* attack from the front, but it's a difficult thing to do.
Why do so many people think this is a dumb sport? It's down to both strategy and physics. When cycling FAST, being behind someone is much more advantageous due to air resistance, so the tactics involve waiting for just the right moment to launch an attack in order to win the race. Go out hard from the start and your opponent will just sit behind you conserving energy and easily fly past at the finish.
I'd rather watch them go head to head in an all out sprint. I want to see who the best pure athlete is not the best strategist. Maybe those kinds of races exist as well, i dunno i'm not familiar with cycling sports.
+Érico Schmitt It starts when they start riding but sprinting is weird because there is a mental component to it. The races aren't very long, so there's not very much room to mess up. Each was trying to force the other to make a move, or take the lead. The rear rider has the advantage because of draft and the element of surprise. Even though the race isn't very long, you really want to conserve energy too. The rider who initiates the sprint for the finish will usually be sprinting slightly longer. This might not make a huge difference normally, but on this level, the tiniest things can result in a win or a lose.
seems like its not really about the sprint and more about making a move at the right time in that case. i still dont understand the appeal myself. seems like 10 laps or so at speed would be more reasonable with some action and passes. im not a cyclist though and to each their own
10 laps at speed is not a sprint, this is also an old video and modern sprinting is more like a drag race. when this race happened gears tended to be smaller with more emphasis on the jump and initial acceleration. fwiw the best guys on the road cant put out anywhere near the power of a top end track sprinter. cav is around 1600w greipel or kittel probably 2k. top track athletes like glatzer currently are somewhere in the 2400-2600 range. you cannot do 10 laps at a full sprint, not even close. a neuromuscular sprint effort is at most 30 seconds before it starts becoming mostly anaerobic work which is nowhere near the same even if they both hurt and are both fast as hell. think about it this way, the first 2 laps are positioning and tactics: some guys like a long fast sprint with less jump, some guys like to lead from the front so they can control the race, and some guys are the complete opposite. the first two laps are your chance to use your tactics to suit your strengths as a rider as best as possible. then imagine coming out of turn 4 is essentially the same as a 100m track race where you just go balls out to beat the other person. did you notice all the moves hoy was making at the back? thats all to get the other rider to either accelerate or respond. did you notice how hoy went up and down the banking multiple times forcing the other rider to follow? if you dont follow as forstemann did you absolutely stand no chance because hoy will use the banking to pick up free speed while you dont. there are a lot of tactics that dont seem obvious to a non cyclist. infact hoy baited forstemann into coming up track multiple times and then dove underneath when forstemann thought it was just another simple move up the banking. lots of thinking goes into a cycling match sprint. make em do 10 laps and theyll just do 9 slow as hell
Buddy Jesus 80% of that discipline (wich is only one out of many you can do in a velodrome) is mental. Only the last bit is the sprint. Before they play chess while putting out unhuman amounts of power already.
The object is to finish first. Being in another cyclists slip stream means you expend much less energy going the same speed as the man infront. So if the man infront was to go hell for leather at the start the man behind would just stay in the slipstream and sprint ahead at the end when the frontman is tired. Cycling slow means there is no slip stream left and no advantage given to the other rider. I enjoy it because of the tactics and suspense built throughout the race to a dramatic finish!
@@82vitt considering his palmares we cannot assume his genetics did him justice. He never won any individual international title. Only team sprint on few occasion and a couple world cup stages.
+Casey Monaghan That is what happens when you are in front. You gotta make sure you look back to make sure there are no surprises. The one in the back is usually looking for any ways to make it past the person the front. In this match, Chris Hoy dominated
+sceloglaux Go fuck yourself its 100% true, the guy that wins is the one that sprints the faster not necessarily the one thats behind. Specially since they always stall the race more or less until the sprinting round is called. Youre a dumbass sir. Like literally look at how much faster the brit was going his legs are going down so fast on that gear it's ridiculous.
It's all about tactics. Their strength is incredible, they go full on only when they absolutley need to at th end. But it's all about the strategy. If you snoozed you lose. Better to be the guy behind.
You probably know that it means "corner or bend". It's funny that you write it in the same way in portuguese, spanish and italian and you write "curva". There are slight differences in the way you say it between those languages, but most people can't tell the difference. Ps: I'm portuguese and I know what it means in polish, my girlfriend is polish!
The early parts of each race will often be highly tactical with riders pedaling slowly, as they carefully jockey for position, often trying to force their opponents up high on the track in an attempt to get their rivals to make the first move. The reason for this apparently strange behavior, as in many track cycling events, is both aerodynamics and tactics.
Forstemann has a medical condition in which he lacks a key protein, Myostatin, that NATURALLY allows him to NEVER DEGRADE MUSCLE! It's insane, I'm learning about it at med school now... and apparently clinical trails for a drug to control this protein are under way. A.k.a you goin build/keep mucho muscle with this drug.
No, what he was saying is true. The reason the front rider doesn't just go as hard as he can from the start is because then the person behind can just draft. So you're right that it becomes a game of timing and brute force, but drafting still comes into play, even if its just to change the meta-game.
You make it sound so simple. It's not. As a young man, I was a match sprinter and kilo specialist. It takes much training to be able to have the ABILITY to perform "timing and tactics". In match sprinting, you must know the abilities of your opponent. It also involves racing TWO athletes in the early rounds. That is a different skill altogether. Strength, flexibility, fitness, quick reflexes, brains, dedication, hard work, and absolutely no fear are all required to do what you call "Simple".
Now I Know : In this round each rider completes two to three warm up laps and then completes the final 200 m, which is usually just under a lap. The number of riders that qualify for the sprint rounds depends on the competition; in World Cup competitions, 16 riders will advance and in a world championship, 24 riders will advance.
im pretty sure theres a trigger to start the race. the second guy passing or coming to equal with the first guy or something like that, my buddy did velo but i cant remember exactly what it was. they arent just going slow to not expend energy.
It's called the 'cat and mouse', they ride for 3 laps in total (I think), but if a rider tries to sprint away right at the start the rider behind him will likely be able to get into his slipstream and overtake when the he tires. Riders have to wait for an opportune moment when they know that they can open a gap and stay there without being caught, usually towards the final lap or when one is distracted.
no matter how much I read the comments I still don't get it, so a sprint is how many rounds in total? why does the dude keep looking back rather than just start sprinting once he reaches round 3 or something
Big Dunk. The reason they use straps instead of clips is because at the power output they put out there is a high probability that you would accidentally pull your foot out of a clip pedal no matter how tight of mechanism you have. So the straps prevent this from happening.
Yup, although, the clip for a perfect positioning for the foot (ball of foot over the axle of the pedal) + holding it in place, and the straps to help clamp their feet there. If he used clips on their own, he might have pulled his foot out upwards. If he used straps on their own, he might have pulled it out backwards. So with that, they both cancel each other out and stops their feet movin' about.
The straps also offer more strength than a shoe, for when pulling up. Even if the clip mechanism holds, the shoe material isn't as stiff and strong as a strap.
@eteokles3 I really don't know what in the world is going on. Honestly. I watched a few of these sprints and couldn't figure out the rules. All I saw is that the person starting off in the back always seemed to win. I would really appreciate if you could educate me on this.
@@PaulPaul-qv3vw chi commenta la gara, all'inizio del video, elenca i grandi campioni degli anni '60. Si lamenta che in quel momento non ci sono grandi campioni italiani nel Mondo della pista. Io davo la colpa di questa carenza allo stato dei velodromi. Per es. a Milano il Maspes-Vigorelli era in uso, ma per il football. Altri velodromi erano diventati solo il contorno in cemento del campo di calcio. Non ero e non sono molto addentro al Mondo della pista e forse avevo preso un abbaglio con il mio commento.
@@vogliousareilmionome capito grazie per la risposta fulminea.,in Italia negli ultimi anni è andato di moda stranamente il rugby, non si se ancora vada bene..
A clearer answer to this, they are using special clipless pedals which have straps on as well. You won't see them outside of professional track cycling, but they're to give double protection against clipping out accidentally. The down side is in a crash, you often stay clipped to the bike.
Hjalmar Nyman They're saving up for the last laps, trying to get into the perfect position for the final sprint. In the end they're pretty damn quick I'd say...
fred col I think it's cool. Sometimes you see weird shit in cycling sports purely because it's outright more strategic than most other race sports and that makes it interesting.
It is all about tactics. The only goal of the race is to cross the finish line first and therefore they basicly just psych eachother out until the last 400-200m or so(most of the time) until one of them decides to make a move. Sometimes you will see people go from the start if they know the others sprint is superior.
You didn't get it from the rules at all, because it's not *in* the rules. Not in the individual sprint, anyway. The reason they go slow is to win. Read the other comments and learn something.
i didn't either at first, okay, this is a sprint competition where there are 3 laps, the competitor in second place cannot overtake until the start of the 2nd lap, they then have to gain pole position by the end of the thrid lap. They were going slow because they were trying to see where they would attack and the guy at the front will have to anticipate being overtaken or defend his position by using a tactic called blocking which is used in all sprints, which is basically getting i the way :)
WTF this wasn't even close. Why would Forstemann go to the top of the track during the sprint? Makes no sense. Unless he was like F this S Hoy is too fast, despite my ridiculously huge legs.
No. Look how fast they accelerate when they start going. It's part of the strategy. See how Robert was looking back waiting for him to accelerate before he accelerated?
When racing at high speed, the rider who manages to stay just behind his or her opponent can draft, expending less effort. By riding behind the 'lead out' rider, the second rider reduces the aerodynamic drag felt. Just before the finish, the trailing rider pulls out of the slipstream, and aided by fresher legs, may be able to overtake the opponent before the line. To prevent this, the leading rider may choose to accelerate quickly before the last lap, hoping to catch his opponent off guard.
+Red Leo So what are the rules? What do you have to do before the bell? I can see that Hoy overtook Forstemann early and then Forstemann goes to the outside on the last corner before the finish for no apparent reason. At that point Forstemann had no more opportunity to win.
the second rider can overtake the front rider if he wants the goal is to put your opponent in a place where you can draft and slingshot around him in the last lap so its better to stay in the back for this tactic
Since they are on wheels the person in the rear can draft the person in front of them, making them move fast while using very little energy. They go really slow for several reasons. So person in front can try and move to the back or so the person in the back can take off first and catch them off guard. I find it kind of stupid, its more of a bike duel than a sprint.
Great race,cat & mouse its a great feeling when you win hoy was in a good position to dive down at the right time and hold that line, The real mchoy... Team gb are the best
Chris hoy is the man although you need to be fast and strong it’s his knowledge and skill of when and where to attack on the track which is what it is all about the modest man beats the show man end of .keep making toast Robert leave the racing to Chris
Learn more about the sport before you can judge it as ridiculous. 90% of energy spent cycling is against the wind. I think others have probably commented on how that worrks.
what mysandclock said isnt true. The beginning of the race has a lot to do with nerves, and psyching the other rider out. The second rider obviously wants to win, but in order to do that you must time your sprint carefully. Hoy won because he timed it right and exploded with speed. Drafting really only happens in sprint races with multiple racers and laps, kind of like nascar theres a lead bike, and when that bike leaves the race begins. Look up chris hoy 2012 london world
