Robbie McEwen is a sprint legend, having won 12 stages of the Tour de France and the overall green jersey in the famous race no fewer than three times.
We caught up with the Australian cycling star to find out the best way to get better at powering to the line.
Here are Robbie’s top tips for sprinting like a pro:
Train it. Don’t just wait until you’re at the end of the race and then try to go as fast as you can. If you actually do some specific drills, you’ll get much better and much faster
Develop leg speed. Practice from a very slow speed, in a low gear and then explosively wind it up until you hit maximum revs.
Nail those drills. Mark out a section about 200m at the end of a loop that takes you about 10 minutes to ride. Do six or eight laps with an absolute full-gas sprint over that 200m, rolling round the rest of the loop in recovery mode.
Hit the gym. Squat thrusts and leg presses will help strengthen the quads and glutes that do most of the work in a sprint. But also try some pilates to build up your core strength as well.
Do your homework. Watch professional races and look closely at the replays to see how the winner did it.
Position is key. In a race, keep yourself out of the wind as long as you can and pick your way slowly forward. Aim to launch your sprint about 200m from the line. If you’ve been doing your training you’ll know what that distance looks like and will be confident you can go full power all the way.