How to win a sprint...

[guido]

www.gifs.com/gif/lYkk1g

[shovelhd]

Sometimes the holes just open up like heavens gate, sometimes they don't.

[weisan]

http://www.steephill.tv/players/720/...145473&yr=2016

This guy weaved in and out of the head bunch at top speed in the last 50 meters and won. Balls of steel!

[Cicli]

Awesome.

[weisan]

His name is Dan McLay, 24-yr-old 2nd year pro.

[cadence90]

Great stuff.

Alberto Tomba-level carving there

[AngryScientist]

threads merged.

slick maneuver. i like it.

[weisan]

Everyone was like...where the hell this guy came from??!

[shovelhd]

You're giving the guy way too much credit. Try that sprint 100 times and it will work once.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by shovelhd

You're giving the guy way too much credit. Try that sprint 100 times and it will work once.

Oh no, he got lucky...and he knew it! If this is Bouhanni and he pulls this stunt and causes a crash...he will be lynched.

[JStonebarger]

Originally Posted by shovelhd

You're giving the guy way too much credit. Try that sprint 100 times and it will work once.

True as far as the holes opening up, but he was faster than everyone else.

[Mzilliox]

that was fun to watch... wiggled right in

[sandyrs]

Originally Posted by weisan

Oh no, he got lucky...and he knew it! If this is Bouhanni and he pulls this stunt and causes a crash...he will be lynched.

If Bouhanni does that and causes a crash, people complain but he's Nacer Bouhanni so life goes on.

If Dan McLay tries that maneuver and causes a crash, that's the last we ever hear of Dan McLay would be my guess.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by shovelhd

You're giving the guy way too much credit. Try that sprint 100 times and it will work once.

but that's the reason we pin the numbers and race the bikes, not just compare power meter results, eh?

[carpediemracing]

I love this sprint. If you look at the "last kilometers" clip it shows that it's a slight descent into the finish straight (although it's unclear to me if the last couple hundred meters was flat or not, it looks flat). I couldn't see evidence of a strong wind but the way the front slowed I'm guessing it wasn't favorable. Therefore guys sitting in would be at a huge advantage - high speeds on slight downhill, front riders fatigue/slow due to pulling into the wind plus leading out into the wind, sheltered riders are at a huge advantage. It reminds me of the 120 sprint on the Gimbels ride - it's a mile or two of very slightly wind-sheltered descending roads, making fast normal leadouts hit the 38-40 mph range, then it's a power sprint up a slight incline. Being at the front is virtually a death sentence, but sitting 5-8 riders back and it's amazing how much speed one can build up before hitting the wind. Big gears certainly help here, as one can wait to jump while soft pedaling the bigger gears.

(The clip below should start just before the 1 km banner)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkuw...utu.be&t=7m15s

The sprinter McLay seems to back off a bit going into the last km, which is unusual given how much work he seemed to put into getting in the front earlier in the clip, as well as his obvious confidence in his bike handling in the middle of the field. I don't know if he needed to back off a bit physically (he was a bit gassed after staying near the front for the previous 5-8 km) or there was some sketchiness (like the rider dive bombing over one of the traffic islands) or something else.

The big thing is that the other riders were really thrashing their bikes in the sprint but seemingly getting nowhere. McLay is rolling a huge gear, soft pedaling, coasting, but using shelter to easily move quicker. In a tailwind he wouldn't have had such an advantage because everyone's speeds would have been high and he wouldn't have had such a speed differential.

In a headwind the front slows. In those situations if you're behind the head of the comet you think "why is everyone sprinting so slowly?!" as you brake and soft pedal to the finish line. At the front, in the wind, you feel like you're trying to pedal through mud, you can't get the bike moving. With narrow roads this leads to a very slow curb-to-curb sprint as everyone stalls in the front row and the fresher riders behind can't get through. In this case, unusually, one of the sheltered guys in the back found the perfect set of holes to slip through to take the win.

It helps that McLay has the gear to roll through - it's why I tell even peer racers (meaning non-pros, and typically Cat 4s and 5s) to keep their big gears. You never know when you can use a big gear and when you can use a big gear nothing else will do. Fatigue slows leg speed so when a rider is tired it's very difficult to zip a smaller gear up to 150 rpm, for example, but rolling a big gear to 100 rpm won't be so impossible. I think in this case the front riders selected their gears for sprinting into the wind. McLay was geared for the draft, i.e. no wind.

It's such a perfect scenario, with perfect openings, perfect reading by the rider, and a set of truly zen-like moves by McLay. I'm sure he wasn't consciously thinking of all the moves, he just saw gaps and moved through them. The blue/white rider to the left eases just a moment to keep from touching wheels and that's the only thing that anyone did to make the moment work.